SPARKS

[timahall]

Profile was a good choice to end the Islington residency. One of their finest songs really, isn't it?

[powpowpow]

profile was magical. another triumph, and they pulled it off so well.
i can't believe they'd done this, i'm completely in awe. my hands were aching yesterday after that extended applause at the end, but every single millisecond was deserved. just incredible.
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medic! medic! medic! medic!

[sin-is-quite-the-thing]

Just AMAZING!!!
Everyone i met in the pub afterwards and during the gig were lovely! Including the band!!

ESP were a brill support act!

Profile was the perfect end to a perfect evening!
Got back home today and my emotions are all over the place. So miserable that it's all over for me, but SO grateful that i managed to make 4 incredible nights!


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-Up Here In Heaven Without You.-

[I_wear_gucci]

[/quote]Stuart Flynn, I believe.

Fantastic, wasn't he?

Not my cup of tea and what a weirdo!!!!

[Kermit]

Is it really the last night in Islington? It just doesn't seem possible that this is all coming to an end. A moment of music history I'm proud to have been a part of. I know we still have Friday to look forward to but this last month has really been something so, so special. I would never have dreamed in a million years that my favourite band that have been with me all my life would do something like this on my doorstep. So although it's been exhausting it's been so much fun and if it kills me I'll have gone to heaven a happy man.
It was a strange feeling going into the Academy tonight. Although it was a busy night again there were obviously a lot of newbies in tonight , like last night. I suppose the new sound of the last 3 albums has attracted a lot of new fans. Some fans I should say before I start could do with a lesson on how to stop nattering all the way through a concert though. Singing is one thing but pissed conversations really should be kept in the pub!! Respect the performers and other fans for fox sake!!
Anyway, again having seen this show a couple of times before on the big stages of The Festival Hall & Brighton Dome it was gonna be strange seeing it on the much smaller stage of the Academy. Great though being able to get much closer and intimate I gotta say. I love this set and I know that they are trying something different with putting the band behind the black mesh I still prefer to see the band. Although it does looks arty, they work so hard they don't deserve to be just seen in the shadows (imo). Ron & Russ all in black tonight (did somebody die?).
You can't get a better opener than "Dick Around" though. Such a monumental piece of music that really should have been as huge as "Bohemian Rhapsody". Oh if only we still had Top of The Pops for exposure I think that could really have been a reality. Never say never though, it still could happen. Mint Royale have got a number one with a kid who break dances on TV in the rain! It's a shame he don't know his Sparks toons…....yet!! (Somebody send him the "Dick Around" CD for his next performance please!). This song is such a stormer. I find it quite incredible that a piece of music this good has not had the success it so rightly deserves. I will never tire of seeing Sparks perform this one. It is pure Rock Opera at its very, very best and Russell, you did it proud tonight fella! One hell of a performance! Rock master’s finest! The applause at the end was just deafening and rightly so! Appraise again to Tammy Glover for doing such a wonderful job on the video, great stuff!!
“Perfume” steadies things out though. Gorgeous, jolly toon this one. I hope Sparks got plenty of samples as prezzies for all the promo they did for the perfume factories out there on this one. We had a huge “Screw The Past” from the crowd tonight. Hope not.
“The Very Next Fight” has Ron boxing himself off the stage with the back projections and as always it got a good laugh. The crowd singing back the “Open displays of affection” were surely felt from us all down in the pit to you guys up there.
“Baby Baby Can I Invade Your Country?” is a real crowd pleaser. I prefer the Beatle version to the album version they did tonight but it still gets everyone singing along. Such a rallier. If the beautiful Sparks army did the invading rather than Bush’s one the world would surely be a happier place! Good to see Jim and Marcus with their real guitars out to this one!!
“Rock, Rock, Rock” has Ron up and rocking his little heart out like a mother, like a mother, like a mother!!! He’s such a performer how this man has never been in movies I’ll never know. Too busy writing songs for us all I guess so we don’t want to encourage him too much to go there. Hands punching in the air from everywhere back at ya!!
The jaunty “Metaphor” lightens up things a bit and everyone singing back they were indeed up for a metaphor was just fabulous. You know there’s quite a good sounding choir down in the pit if ever Sparks needed one for a song at anytime.
“Waterproof” should have been rush re-released last year with all the rain we had last year. “Umberrrelllaaellaa” would never have been No 1 for so long without all that rain. This is such a great tune though, lyrically marvellous and just made for those sodden festivals with rocking revellers. The way it rocks out is just brilliant and exhausting at its end too!! Splashing stuff!!
“Here Kitty” had the cat masks out. Dunno how many caught that one but we raised a few smiles around us all, thanks again Helen for that one. Jakob you did well with your glasses on too!! Fab! It’s all good fun.
“There’s No Such Thing As Aliens” is the other highlight though. Just love this toon. Great new video on youtube too btw that would have made a good backdrop to the show tonight. The little Aliens on stage did a grand job of it though. I love the waltzing rhythm to this one though and takes me back to “Simple Ballet” all those albums ago.
“As I Sit Down To Play The Organ At The Notre Dame Cathedral” has got to be the longest title of a song anywhere! (Apart from that old Julie Andrews number I suppose). But what an epic song to finish on! Ron playing his pretend organ on the backdrop and the crowd singing back Hallelujah tonight was terrific. A mini movie in itself I wonder if Ron actually has ever had the pleasure of playing at Notre Dame. Anyone know? I bet he would have had a blast in there!!! It’s such a bonkers tune this one though, Sparks at their best, I love it!!
The encore of “Profile” was just waiting to be done after all this time. Russell hitting his highest notes and sending the crowd absolutely mental. It always was a great B-side and a great song to finish off on.
The goodbyes tonight were really sad. A huge round of applause and the cheering at the end tonight was really quite ear blasting. It’s been an amazing experience for everyone this. For us exhausted gold ticketers it’s been the dream of a lifetime and thanks again to Sparks for doing all this. You’re mad but we love you for it. Only Sparks could do this marathon of fun. We all need a medal at the end of this one! Shepherds Bush is another day I know but saying goodbye even to all the crew and staff at the Academy who have grown to know us all too over the weeks was like waving Meg Richardson of off Crossroads goodbye leaving on the QEII all those years ago. (It's an old English Soap Opera for anyone abroad). There were a few sad eyes then for anyone old enough to remember it and there were a few tonight.
Good to see the entire band go over and Tammy too tonight in the Eddie. Packed with everyone after the show, at least we all got to come down and say our goodbyes and thank yous. It’s the end of a really special time here in Islington N1. A lot of love has certainly been coming out around Islington’s Angel the last few weeks. I hope you all got to see the giant steel wings just around the corner in the N1 Centre. I sincerley hope the Angel of Islington will be flying over Shepherds Bush on Friday. She will be looking down with a smile I’m sure and giving us all her blessing!! See you all there!!

[loz]

I'd only been to three before last night.
I worried about how good the support band sounded.
(ESP) I thought Sparks may have had a problem following that. But NO! they took it to an ever higher level.
Magnifico o o o o
The sound was superb!
One great night!
Can anyone remember the song "How Are You Getting Home"?
Can anyone tell me how I got home?
What a fun night!
Many thanks to Rickey & Lilly, and all the others there!
Steve, Jim, Steve, Marcus, 2 guys called Mael or something, I think,
and Powwowwow.! Sorry Pow! I had you down as a WWF wrestler! Sorry!
Happy daze!

[la femme 100 têtes]

I loved the show. It was my fourth, I'm so happy to have been there. Unfortunately I cannot come today.
Thank you Sparks! Thank you band!

(And to the tall guy and his wife from the Netherlands (?) who came late and then pushed themselves in front of me "to take pictures": F U C K YOU!)

[Lady Is Lingering]

Chicks dig, dig, d-i-g, dig, dig... Sparks!!! Another awesome gig... so awesome that I've used the word 'awesome' and I hate that word. I feel like slicing my ear off and maeling it to the Sparks' brothers in a Van Goghish display of angst-ridden admiration.
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