It’s still somehow inevitable that, in a show packed of highlights, the most striking moment at Sparks gig in Wolverhampton over the weekend comes when Ron Mael moves front and centre. Leaving his keyboard mid-way through ‘The Number One Song in Heaven’, the elder Mael brother, a few weeks shy of his eightieth birthday, changes his expression from deadpan to maniacal and does his dance, whipping the crowd into a state of delirium. The chants of “Ron, Ron, Ron” reverberate around Civic Hall long after he returns to his seat.
2025 has been another year of highs for Sparks, the band enjoying a renaissance in the autumn of their career. Album number twenty eight, Mad!, reached #2 in the UK and #27 in the US, a career high on both sides of Atlantic. The supporting tour has seen numerous sold out shows, and the brothers have also played their first ever gigs in Italy, satisfying the demand of their ever increasing audience. When you have more than three hundred songs at your disposal, crafting a set list of just twenty needs some thought. Tonight, we got just the right number of new songs along with the requisite hits and dips here and there from more than half a century of Sparks. And yet even if the songs were from the 1970’s (‘Goofing Off’, ‘Reinforcements’) or the 2020’s (‘JanSport Backpack’, ‘Please Don’t Fuck Up My World’) they still sounded relevant and vital.
‘So May We Start’, asked Russell as they led off with the song of the same name, something of a restrained opening for the joyous experience that was to follow. Still managing to cover every inch of the stage, Russell’s voice remains as strong as ever, and that he can still turn in performances like this night after night is nothing short of remarkable. ‘Academy Award Performance’ saw the audience start to get up from their seats and by ‘Beat the Clock’, despite the efforts of Civic Hall security, everyone was up and dancing. It’s hard to imagine anyone remaining seated for a Sparks gig, they are band where even the newer songs (‘Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab’, ‘Drowned in a Sea of Tears’) are as welcome as the old. And by the time they hit the highs of ‘Music That You Can Dance To’ and ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both Of Us’, it reaffirmed the sense that Sparks remain one of the most irresistible live attractions around. Older fans will doubtless have their memories of wonderful shows in the 70’s and 80’s but, for those of us who only came to love Sparks in the twenty first century, they are at the absolute peak of their powers.
After a encore of ‘The Girl is Crying in Her Latte’ and ‘All That’, there were some heartfelt words by both Ron and Russell and the promise of more to come from them in the future. Fifty-odd years and nearly thirty albums down the road, Sparks continue to thrill audiences around the globe.
Setlist:-
So May We Start
Do Things My Own Way
Reinforcements
Academy Award Performance
Goofing Off
Beat the Clock
Please Don’t Fuck Up My World
Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab
Suburban Homeboy
All You Ever Think About Is Sex
Drowned in a Sea of Tears
JanSport Backpack
Music That You Can Dance To
When Do I Get to Sing “My Way”
The Number One Song in Heaven
This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
Whippings and Apologies
Lord Have Mercy
The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
All That
