The prospect of watching Sparks live in a half-empty Dome Concert Hall on a wet Sunday evening didn't suggest that this would be one of the gigs of the year, but despite the leaky roof and the mad bloke in the rear stalls, it turned out to be just that! With no support, the band played two different sets which worked really well. In the first half they played new album Hello Young Lovers in full, complete with a video screen centre stage which Ron would intermittently interact with. As with most of their material, it was theatrical and witty stuff, and the new songs proved to be their strongest collection in more than a decade, with Dick Around, (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country? and Metaphor coming as particular highlights. The second half was a more traditional set consisting of songs from throughout their career including The Number One Song In Heaven, When Do I Get To Sing "My Way" and, of course, This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us. It was a triumphant performance which had the audience on its feet and applauding like an crowd twice its size! They finished with a reprise of Dick Around, just the two Mael brothers and a keyboard, protesting the single's ludicrous ban by Radio 1. An absolutely cracking show and I'm so glad I made the effort to go and see them! And I still think their drummer used to be in The Proclaimers... what do you think 'brother' Gingerbloke?
Monday, October 02, 2006
Sparks at the Dome
The prospect of watching Sparks live in a half-empty Dome Concert Hall on a wet Sunday evening didn't suggest that this would be one of the gigs of the year, but despite the leaky roof and the mad bloke in the rear stalls, it turned out to be just that! With no support, the band played two different sets which worked really well. In the first half they played new album Hello Young Lovers in full, complete with a video screen centre stage which Ron would intermittently interact with. As with most of their material, it was theatrical and witty stuff, and the new songs proved to be their strongest collection in more than a decade, with Dick Around, (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country? and Metaphor coming as particular highlights. The second half was a more traditional set consisting of songs from throughout their career including The Number One Song In Heaven, When Do I Get To Sing "My Way" and, of course, This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us. It was a triumphant performance which had the audience on its feet and applauding like an crowd twice its size! They finished with a reprise of Dick Around, just the two Mael brothers and a keyboard, protesting the single's ludicrous ban by Radio 1. An absolutely cracking show and I'm so glad I made the effort to go and see them! And I still think their drummer used to be in The Proclaimers... what do you think 'brother' Gingerbloke?
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I think that he not only used to drum for the Proclaimers but that he used to write for Blackadder and then went on to pen the scripts for some major British movies. It was a great night out and a fantastic gig with no sibling rivalry onstage or in the audience!
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