1,278 SPARKS, Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, Oxford New Theatre, Tuesday 23rd May 2023

 

Not mine - but caught by my brother Paul from his stalls spot!

Let it not be said that I’d refuse a free gig ticket…! My brother Paul booked a circle ticket at Oxford New Theatre to see quirky and enduring 70’s glam pop/ art rock mavericks Sparks, then realised that as he was a VIP member of the promotion company, he was entitled to a second-row seat with benefits! So, his circle ticket was going begging, and despite this then becoming the first night of 3 in 3 for me (yipe!), I happily snapped it up to go along to a gig with my brother, even if I don’t get to sit with him! Sparks themselves are (very!) late-comers to my gig “Dance Card” but having thoroughly enjoyed their previous showing (five years ago – practically to the day! – at the Forum, gig 1,086), I was well up for again catching the brothers Mael, out promoting their forthcoming album (their 25^th!) “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte”…

 An early departure, this; concerned about always-gridlocked Oxford being further affected by the closure of Botley Bridge on our usual drive in, I drove over to Paul’s for 4.30! A happily easy drive in, however, got us parked up in the cavernous Westgate car park and sat in the splendid Wig and Pen pub opposite, enjoying a drink and fine pub grub by 5.30! Milled around outside chatting, before doors at 7 saw us go our separate ways, Paul for his champagne reception and me up in the gods! A fine view, however, for opener Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer at 7.30. As per his previous Sparks support slot, he was a toff throwback novelty act armed with a ukulele and some backing tapes, but following a quirky anthem to introverts, “Looking Forward To Leaving”, his set this time largely consisted of a medley of Sparks songs (“Missionary Position”, “Amateur Hour” and “Get In The Swing” notable vignettes), before his own finale, “Suburban Homeboy”. A jolly cove indeed, I’ll warrant, but only palatable in small doses – lucky this was only 20 minutes!

 Whiled the time away reminiscing of my first trip here, in this very circle over 42 years ago for Echo And The Bunnymen (gig 2!), and checking out the crowd – a broad church indeed, with anyone from Eagles via Undertones to Art Brut repped on tshirts; me, I’d gone for Bauhaus in recognition of yesterday’s World Goth Day! Anyway, the pre-gig opera backing track thankfully abated at 8.30, the 4-piece band backline taking to the stage in shadows (where they stayed throughout, apart from when introduced by Russell Mael during the encore), followed by deadpan, moustachioed keyboardist Ron Mael, then his energetic lightning-rod of a younger brother Russell, bounding onstage like Zebedee, 74 years old yet with the verve and vitality of a man a third his age. “So may we start?” he inquired of the crowd, ironically as this was the title of the opener!

 

This was again a splendid performance from Sparks; the 2 Mael brothers may possess a combined age of 151 (!) but this is no nostalgia bathchair trundle. This was “Opening Night” of the new album tour, the brash industrial synth pulse of the title track second number in, and they were quickly out of the blocks. “Show number 1! It’s going to be fun…” announced Russell, before the circular, almost medieval riff of “Monster Of Love” ceded to the smoother, more 80’s Eurodisko rocker “Angst In My Pants”. Indeed, much of the set was largely keyboard/ synth fuelled, falling into either darker, challenging and robotik sheet-metal Krautrock noise (such as the flippant “Balls” and discordant, gabbling newie “Veronica Lake”) or more conventional, poppier early 80’s Blitz Club fodder (e.g. the unapologetically hooky “When I’m With You”, the Iggy Pop-esque strident stomp of “Toughest Girl In Town” and the Moroder-esque licks of “When Do I Get To Sing My Way?”). Some worked better than others for me, but every track was at least inventive and challenging. And there were exceptions to these rules, of course; a fun early “Beaver O’Lindy” was an odd juxtaposition of rolling drum menace and Parisienne backstreet accordion Chanson, and “It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way”, possibly my favourite newie, was a sweeping and stately paean to individuality. The whole set was however replete with Sparks trademarks such as octave straddling chord changes showing off Russell’s high falsetto, brain-hugging repetitive hooks, energy, oddball humour… and of course very very long song titles!

 A late, soaring “Number One Song In Heaven” again featured Ron briefly abandoning his keyboard to do a goony dance, then the subsequent “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” was the highlight of the night; the unmistakeable piano opening giving way to a mighty, thunderous platform boot glam stomp. Brilliant! A couple of slower newies and a 2 song encore then rounded off a splendid 1 hour 40 set, the Maels remaining onstage to take an extended and well deserved curtain call. Paul grabbed a list (just the one, unfortunately) from his advanced position, then we caught our breath before an easy drive home. Great night in fraternal company; a freebie, maybe, but I’d have been happy to pay good money to see Sparks tonight!

1,086 SPARKS, Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, London Kentish Town Forum, Thursday 24th May 2018

A gig report that I never in a million years thought I would ever write, but one I'm so glad I'm doing...

When my brother mentioned last year that he was listening to an album that was blowing him away, I was surprised to hear it was by Sparks! Sparks, the 70s glam mavericks turned Giorgio Moroder-inspired disco divas, led by the madcap Mael brothers, Russell (he of the mass of curly hair, nervous energy and operatic helium falsetto) and Ron (he of the manic stare, non-communicative persona and Chaplin moustache)? Surely not! But Sparks it was, and said album “Hippopotamus” was a completely fun glory box of vaudevillian tunes, keyboard-propelled glam and convoluted lyrical silliness, apparently continuing a recent creative renaissance for the band, which had also seen them collaborate with Franz Ferdinand under the catchy handle of FFS! We’d just missed the Bristol leg of their 2017 tour, but when they announced a small 2018 reprise, we gleefully sorted tickets for the (eventually sell-out) London gig.

Leaving work early and driving to my brother’s, we then hit the road promptly, a good run seeing us decide to drive all the way, then slightly regretting that decision as A40 traffic delayed our arrival. Still, there and parked up before doors, and thanks to my O2 mobile contract, we joined the priority queue, snagging an excellent viewing spot down the front, house right. Chatted away the time before opener Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, on at 8. Somewhat of a niche act, this guy; a beatbox-backed, banjo playing mustachio'd toff straight out of “Jeeves And Wooster”, with song titles such as “They Don't Allow Rappers In The Bullingdon Club”, he was actually quite an apposite support choice, warming up the crowd nicely with some quickfire erudite lyricism, light-hearted and entertaining banter (“anyone fancy hearing a punk rock song about the National Trust? [Yes?] I’ve got my audience spot-on here…!”) and a Bavarian oompah version of Kraftwerk’s “The Model” (!). I mostly missed his subsequent cover of Bowie's “Starman” due to a loo trip, but overall this was a fun and diverting opener.

Kept our front spots and I did my best to ignore the annoying woman practically jumping into my back pocket, as the roadies laid out quite the biggest set-list this side of that blind Bunny McCulloch, next to Ron Mael's keyboard. Honestly, any bigger and they may as well have embroidered the set onto a blanket...! Heroic fanfare backing music and back lit cluster lights then heralded Sparks’ arrival just after 9; first the back rows, decked out in matching pastel pink denim jackets, then Ron, resplendent in white shirt, pink tie and enormous pantaloons, and finally Russell, bounding onstage in black, topped with a pink bombardier jacket. Opener “What The Hell Is It This Time” chugged along with sinuous purpose, much fuller and tougher-sounding than on record, setting tonight’s tone perfectly; the backing band were impressively in sync throughout, providing the perfect base for Ron’s staccato one-note keyboard refrains and Russell’s impressively energetic performance and ball-strangling yet tuneful vocals. Damn, Russell looked good for 69, putting a shift in that a man half his age would've been proud of!

An early “Tryouts For The Human Race” was tremendous, featuring that bubbling Moroder synth and a soaring yet eerie hook; “Missionary Position”, my favourite from the new album was epic and widescreen, yet played with “Carry On”-esque tongue-in-cheek humour, and an unexpected “I Wish You Were Fun” was a jaunty fairground singalong ditty, with Russell skipping about the stage energetically leading the audience in the “la la la la la’s”. A snatch of the old standard “My Way” led into an excellent “When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”?”, all huge, pulsating drama. But the 2 real highlights were to come; the coruscating, hi NRG synth pattern to a soaring “Number One Song In Heaven”, which saw Ron Mael abandon his keyboards during the break, perform a goony dance to the general astonishment of all, then return, gently dabbing his brow; and a brilliant version of “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us”, Sparks’ debut single (!) which fully deserves a place alongside the likes of “Roadrunner” and Surrender” as a bona fide all time rock classic.

Not perfect by any means (“Rhythm Thief” was somewhat wearing, and I’d have liked to see the set end after “Town”, rather than the subsequent throwaway “My Baby’s Taking Me Home”), but a tremendous set, with the emphasis on fun and entertainment. A 3 song encore showcasing splendidly undulating oldie “Amateur Hour” capped the performance, after which the Mael brothers took their bows, offered fulsome thanks (Ron even reluctantly taking the mic to praise the crowd for their support through the years), and took selfies with the crowd before departing, the deserved ovation still ringing around the hall.

Set-lists for both the Rose boys too (!), then, after a quick catch-up with old Lev mate Colin outside, plus a signature from Sparks’ guitarist Eli Pearl (who complimented my XTC t-shirt!), we headed off, into a truly nightmarish journey home; 2 banks of immovable traffic on the A40M leading into 3-into-1 roadworks, an M4 Junction 2 closure necessitating a diversion via Heathrow, thereby taking us 1 ½ hours to do the 16 miles from venue to motorway (!), then 2 further lots of slow roadworks on the M4 and a threat of J10-J11 closure which eventually proved not to be the case (but which briefly saw my by-then apoplectic brother threaten to abandon the journey and get a Travelodge!). Total fucking carnage. Nevertheless, despite all these setbacks (which saw me hitting home at a red-eyed 2 am), we agreed on one thing… if we’d known the journey was going to be this horrendous, we’d have still done it anyway. Hell yeah. I’m just sorry it took so long for me to see Sparks, and I hope it won’t be the last time!