SPARKS @ EVENTIM APOLLO, LONDON

Following the release of their new album, the Sparks brothers returned to London where they said they first made their fame thanks to an Island records deal and now following the band’s documentary, directed by English filmmaker Edgar Wright. This time they were touring their new studio album, ‘MAD!’, which reached no. 2 in the official album charts, their highest ever charting position. The duo performed two nights in the capital performing for the first time some songs from the new release.

They played one of these catchy new tracks early on in the set with ‘Do Things My Own Way’; its raw audacity being emboldened by beating drums and wirey guitar. They also performed a selection of older tracks in their set that they don’t often do live, such as ‘Reinforcements’ and ‘Academy Award Performance’ and ‘Beat the Clock’ (a top 10 hit), the latter two taken from their seminal 1979 studio album ‘No 1 in Heaven’, produced by the great electro-disco king Giorgio Moroder.

Sparks returned to their new album with ‘Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab’, featuring Ron’s electrified keys and grizzly, twangy live guitar parts that lifted it off the recorded version against what was mostly a backing tracked song. Ron then stood up to perform the musical number ‘Suburban Homeboy’, from the band’s 2002 album ‘Lil’ Beethoven’. The duo furthermore played two more singles from their new album, ‘Drowned in a Sea of Tears’ – although their backing band were sounding a bit stagnant against Russell’s perfectly pitched vocals – and the minimalist, Kraftwerkesque ‘JanSport Backpack’.

The pair’s main set finished on a series of fan favourites and hits: ‘When Do I Get to Sing “My Way”‘, ‘The Number One Song in Heaven’ and ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’, performing each track with a streak of originality to their last live renditions to fight back the tedium of nostalgia. They came back on stage for an encore of ‘The Girl is Crying in Her Latte’, from their last also outstanding studio album, humbly connecting to the audience’s applause. The only thing amiss from their set was perhaps one more track from their fantastic new release.

19/06/25: Sparks @ Eventim Apollo, London.