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Sparks in Boston, July 1st

 
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waterloosunset
Sparks Guru


Joined: 17 Nov 2021
Posts: 2008
Location: amongst the New England trees

PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:22 pm    Post subject: Sparks in Boston, July 1st Reply with quote

When I left my house yesterday, the smoke from the Canadian wildfires made the air in Boston unhealthy for a large swath of the population. The band came on quite late (40 minutes after showtime - someone on Twitter thought the bar was trying to make more money). I was afraid that the poor air quality might be affecting Russell's ability to sing.

Not a chance.

What a concert, oh my God! You will find the setlist over at https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/sparks/2023/the-wilbur-theatre-boston-ma-5ba78b80. I will not disclose song titles here.

I believe the setlist is the permanent American one. The whole band was on fire (not the Canadian kind). Russell's vocals were sonorous and clear, his body tiggering across the stage the stage with glee. Many of you have written better reviews than I can, so I thought I'd cut to the ambience of the show. Ron looked like a man well satisfied after 50+ years of hard work. Russell had a grin on his face for much of the show, and, from my close proximity to Ron, it was clear that he was suppressing a smile on many occasions. The audience in the 1100 seat venue was raucous. It took Russell a while between songs to calm the audience down enough to start the next one, but he seemed to enjoy the pandemonium. The bottom floor of the Wilbur theater has small café tables and chairs (in the mezz and balcony, there are regular theater seats) and many people didn't stand until the very end. I was about 5 feet from the stage, and I stood a lot (but felt stupid because everyone else was seated). I learned today from someone that the ushers were making people sit down, which was news to me. The theater has a policy prohibiting photography of any kind. Well, I thought that was nonsense and took a fair number of pictures, but I turned around on several occasions to see ushers signaling to people to put their phones away. Weird. I met so many fans, and the experience just reinforced how lovely the Sparks community is. On to Chicago for Wednesday's show.
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PeterE
Sparks Guru


Joined: 02 Oct 2002
Posts: 1734
Location: Wiesbaden Germany

PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for sharing your impressions...
have fun in Chicago ... if I had time I would go all those
"miles to Hollywood"
(link for the setlist does not work though)
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waterloosunset
Sparks Guru


Joined: 17 Nov 2021
Posts: 2008
Location: amongst the New England trees

PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry that the link didn't work. Here it is again

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/sparks/2023/the-wilbur-theatre-boston-ma-5ba78b80.html

It's the same as all the other shows in the U.S.
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PeterE
Sparks Guru


Joined: 02 Oct 2002
Posts: 1734
Location: Wiesbaden Germany

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2023 2:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://rockandrollglobe.com/rock/sparks-have-a-latte-fun-in-boston/
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waterloosunset
Sparks Guru


Joined: 17 Nov 2021
Posts: 2008
Location: amongst the New England trees

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2023 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PeterE wrote:
https://rockandrollglobe.com/rock/sparks-have-a-latte-fun-in-boston/


I really hope that some of you read this review so you can tell me what Jim Sullivan's point is. A few of us on the once admired Twitter have been pondering this paragraph (please excuse any vulagarity that might offend):

"That’s always been Sparks’ hidden ball trick. Whatever sounds bouncy and jolly, probably isn’t when you get right down to it, but whatever misbehavior is described or hinted at in song is also done up comic book style. I mean Trent Reznor really wanted to f**k you like an animal and Blackie Lawless really wanted to f**k like a beast – well, not anymore. The born-again W.A.S.P. singer renounced the song in 2009 and said he’d never play it again. Then, in 2022, he said he was reconsidering it if they rejiggered it. At any rate, Russell Mael does not and never did."

Um, what? I understand that Ron writes songs that sound really happy but have dark lyrics, but couldn't JS have said this in one or two sentences?

Over the years, I have gotten very tired of Jim Sullivan sounding very clever but saying very little.
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highersynth
Sparkologist


Joined: 23 Jun 2023
Posts: 510
Location: Devon, UK

PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

waterloosunset wrote:
PeterE wrote:
https://rockandrollglobe.com/rock/sparks-have-a-latte-fun-in-boston/


I really hope that some of you read this review so you can tell me what Jim Sullivan's point is. A few of us on the once admired Twitter have been pondering this paragraph (please excuse any vulagarity that might offend):

"That’s always been Sparks’ hidden ball trick. Whatever sounds bouncy and jolly, probably isn’t when you get right down to it, but whatever misbehavior is described or hinted at in song is also done up comic book style. I mean Trent Reznor really wanted to f**k you like an animal and Blackie Lawless really wanted to f**k like a beast – well, not anymore. The born-again W.A.S.P. singer renounced the song in 2009 and said he’d never play it again. Then, in 2022, he said he was reconsidering it if they rejiggered it. At any rate, Russell Mael does not and never did."

Um, what? I understand that Ron writes songs that sound really happy but have dark lyrics, but couldn't JS have said this in one or two sentences?

Over the years, I have gotten very tired of Jim Sullivan sounding very clever but saying very little.


I have no idea who Jim Sullivan is, and am not on Twitter, but the tweet you've quoted is utter gibberish!
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