SPARKS

nekoyama · Groupie Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Posts: 119 Location: Tokyo

As announced on FB/Twitter/News page, "R&R Brothers from LA" a.k.a. Sparks made a special guest appearance in a concert held at O-West in Shibuya, Tokyo on Jan. 11th 2012 - the birthday of the organizer of the event and musician friend Yuichi Kishino who led his band "Watts Towers" for the occasion.

Sparks' gig was third on the bill (they were billed as “Sparks” on the ticket) and kicked off with Russell’s "Konbanwa" (“good evening”) at around 8:30 pm.
The sibling duo played a short but well-balanced set of classics ;
Propaganda / Dick Around / Never Turn... / This Town / Change / Something for the Girl
to the enthusiastic audience. Russell was bouncy as ever and sounded great while Ron didn't fail to display his smirky faces as he busied himself with playing the keyboards.
As the audience cheered for more, they played I Married Myself for the encore.
Their performance ended with "Oyasuminasai" (“sleep well”) from Ron, though it was only 9 p.m. when he said so.

A bunch of people left the venue after Sparks' gig, but THEY NEVER KNEW THAT THEY MADE A FATAL MISTAKE. THE BROTHERS SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST.

The headliner of the day, Yuichi Kishino's band "Watts Towers" appeared after Mael brothers and entertained with a series of their melodic and witty songs. When they played their final number, Ron in a black overcoat with a top hat on & Russel with a fedora on appeared on stage and hit the floor as DANCERS. That included the regular "Ron's dancing" in the center stage! The audience was much amazed and greatly pleased to witness such a rare gesture by the brothers.

When the band finished the song, Ron took up the mike and proved he had expanded his Japanese vocabulary beyond everyday greetings by saying to Mr. Kishino, "Chou kakkoii! (“super cool”) Happy Birthday.", then Russell knowingly added "Otoko wa tsurai yo.” (“It's tough being a man”) - obviously taken from the Tora-san movie.
Their surprise presence was a real bonus to end this very special event.

I'd like to thank R&R for their wonderful new year's treat for the Japanese fans, especially after the extremely stressful year we had to put up with. I'm sure that many of the audience heartily appreciated their being with us at this moment, which was truly priceless and inspiring. That was a marvelous way to congratulate Kishino-san's birthday, too!

I only hope they would keep their words - that they are coming back to Japan real soon.
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systemr2000 · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:38 pm Post subject:

Incredible stuff! I'm sure Sparks fans all over the world would love to have been there.
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electric elver · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:57 pm Post subject:

Thanks so much for posting and describing it all so vividly. Hope even more now that some footage of the evening makes it into the public domain!

jessie6413 · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:35 pm Post subject:

Thank you for sharing your experience. I feel like I was there due to how vividly you described it. :)
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"Language, however, is not language"

rwolf'68 · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:29 am Post subject:

Thanks Nekoyama! Nice narrative, just lovely. I totally wish I had seen the dancing bit at the end, sounds outrageous! They've still got it (always have and always will!)

MORE PLEASE, SPARKS :)
Or should I say MORE SPARKS PLEASE!

Alex Robertson · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:51 am Post subject:

Which "Dance" did Ron do...he has added a couple of different ones (Tap Dance and Hornpipe) over the years since his now famed Shuffle?

nekoyama · Groupie Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Posts: 119 Location: Tokyo

allydodd · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:44 pm Post subject:

Great review, Nekoyama! I'm having a wonderful time imagining that dance routine. Really appreciate hearing about such a fantastic evening.