SPARKS – ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON 17.4.22
The ever enigmatic Sparks brothers, Russell and Ronald Mael, make a welcome return to London to play the iconic Roundhouse. I had last seen them at the Barbican in 2012, as part of their ‘Two Hands, One Mouth’ tour. As the title suggests, that tour featured just the two of them, which was quite novel, but this time around they have a full band. There is no support, so it is an evening of uninterrupted Mael magic.
Their most recent album, ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’ came out in 2020. However, the boys haven’t been unproductive since then, good grief no. Last year they produced a film and accompanying soundtrack album entitled ‘Annette’. This is a rock opera charting how the lives of a stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife are changed by the arrival of their first child. Indeed, tonight’s set commences with ‘And So We Begin’, which is the opening song of the soundtrack album.
However we return to more familiar territory with ‘Tips For Teens’ from 1981’s ‘Whomp That Sucker’ album. ‘Get In The Swing’ from ‘Indiscreet’ sounds like it could have come from the era of the Weimar Republic. Indeed, despite having been listening to Sparks for some decades, I’d never previously realised the similarity of some of their music to 1930s German cabaret, and more generally, opera.
Having seen Sparks live a few times over the years, one thing that I’ve learnt is to expect the unexpected, and one thing that certainly was unexpected was a performance of ‘Wondergirl’ from the first ‘Halfnelson’ album from 1971 (Sparks were initially known as Halfnelson). The song unsurprisingly sounds like early Sparks, but it’s nice to hear it get an airing all the same.
Humour is never far below the surface at a Sparks show, whether it be in songs such as ‘The Shopping Mall Of Love’ which features a Ron solo vocal, or Ron belying his ‘serious’ stage persona to emerge from behind his keyboard to indulge in some goofy dancing. Much about Sparks is very much tongue in cheek. The music itself is taken very seriously however. Russell tells us that his brother “doesn’t write songs, he composes them”. Likewise their band are skilled, professional and tight.
Sparks themselves are on a continuous onward trajectory. After the encores they tell us that they’ve nearly finished a new album, and they have a new film/musical ready for release. So there’s plenty of activity in Sparksworld. Can’t wait to hear and see their latest work!
Sparks setlist:
‘So May We Start’
‘Angst In My Pants’
‘Tips For Teens’
‘Under The Table With Her’
‘Get In The Swing’
‘I Married Myself’
‘I Predict’
‘Wonder Girl’
‘Stravinsky’s Only Hit’
‘Shopping Mall Of Love’
‘Johnny Delusional’ (FFS cover)
‘We Love Each Other So Much’
‘Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)’
‘Lawnmower’
‘Music That You Can Dance To’
‘The Rhythm Thief’
‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’
‘When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”’
‘My Baby’s Taking Me Home’
‘The Number One Song In Heaven’
‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us’
(encore)
‘Suburban Homeboy’
‘All That’
Learn more about Sparks at allsparks.com
