SPARKS

[T.N.K.]

[sin-is-quite-the-thing]

Ive been to gigs where its been MUCH worse so i don't think we can complain reaaaaally. Some air con would have been appreciated though!
_________________
-Up Here In Heaven Without You.-

[Lady Is Lingering]

It's really all been said but I just have to add to the general mass of praise for this gig. It's funny, but myself and my fellow travellers from Dublin love tormenting ourselves by constantly saying "Imagine we hadn't come along?" "Imagine we decided we just couldn't afford any more trips to London and said ok let's give these last few a miss?" What? Duh!

We'd been to four - Woofer, Kimono, Propaganda and Indiscreet. They'd all been so utterly mindblowingly good that we HAD to come back and we did and boy oh boy oh boy are we glad. 'Lil' Beethoven' live in Islington Academy was the most fun I had with that many people with all my clothes on. My great fondness of Sparks has grown into utter love L-O-V-E! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Everything and I mean EVERYTHING about this evening was so absolutely perfect, not least of all the audiences' response. The night began as all the nights have with the audience anticipating great things. The metronome ticked for over 7 minutes, the audience clapped and stamped their feet along to the regulated tick but, being too exited to contain ourselves, our claps and stomps always grew quicker while the metronome remained constant and reminded us of our inability to stay calm and under control. Some poor soul spoke for us all by eventually crying out "This is torture!" Laughs ensued and soon the band came on.

What followed was one of the greatest nights of my life (and I'm sure a few other people's lives).

You all know the track list... most of you know the stage show that goes with the live performance of it. But none of this captures what happened that night. As one of my compatriots described it afterwards - it was like really great sex, it started off in a beautiful easy grind and built up into a intense physical and emotional experience that made you want to laugh and cry with pleasure and happiness.

The night in its entirety is what made it special and I don't want to dissect it too much so I'm not going to go through all the songs. I'll only describe three. During 'My baby's taking me home', which many of you have already mentioned, something happened... It just happened. The repetition of those words, the feeling that they evoked just did something, something that I certainly don't have words to explain. In his stilted and yet strangely emotional voice, Ron finished speaking those most simple and yet profoundly beautiful words

As we walk through the morning rain
And the skies are clearing
And the streets are glistening
Streets named for New England trees
A rainbow forms
But we're both colorblind
But we can hear what others can't hear
We can hear the sound of a chorus singing

And the repetition of "My baby's taking me home" started again. Russell was clearly as they say 'into it' and as he jumped and swayed and sang those 5 words again and again, he tried to free himself from his smartly button up black shirt and in frustration (evoking the magical combination of sex and rock n roll) he ripped the top open. The audience was already diving headlong into a paroxysm of complete ecstasy, this just pushed us over the edge and the song from there on in was an exhilarating blur.

After the song, as some have mentioned, the audience simply refused to let the band continue. We clapped, cheered, roared, whistled and stomped. Russell, Ron and the rest of the band looked genuinely stunned and elated by the reaction. R & R shared a look that spoke volumes about just how special this whole experience has been for them. I thought the cheers would never end. To be honest I didn't want them to. It was quite clearly a spontaneous overflow of love on the audience's part and I think at that moment we all understood just how much love and appreciation we had for Sparks... past, present and future.

The feeling of excitement and goodwill just built and built and when 'Suburban homeboy' came along it was a culmination of all this. Russell was nearly laughing with happiness as he sang. All the band chanted the chorus, grouped together, punching the air and grinning. God, did we all mean it when we shouted 'props to our peps'!

And then the encore. Wunderbar indeed. As if appreciating the wonderfulness of 'Lil' Beethoven' wasn't enough we were treated to, as Russell explained in his intro to the song, the seed that lead to Sparks' later adventures in music. Speaking with not the slightest interest in any 'sporting' endeavour, this song alone justifies the existence of football. Fortuitous was it indeed that Sparks agreed to work on this Günther Koch tribute. We may not have the last 3 albums, certainly as we have them today, without it. Russell sang, as always, with complete force and commitment and made me smile and rock all at once.

That brings me to my last comment, which is that I think this night was particularly special - Russell himself called it a special night - because it was closer to Sparks as they are today. And for all the love we have for Sparks through the 70s 80s and 90s I think it means such a lot to them that they are quite clearly making music NOW that moves and excites people as much as anything they've ever done. What better affirmation can you have than to know that you've still 'GOT IT'. Good god have they got it.

We are such lucky S.O.B's to have these two brothers from LA lighten up our lives.
_________________

[T.N.K.]

Wow, cool words Lady Is Lingering. It was such a beautiful show. I salute you!
_________________
Even
Dwarfs
Started
Small

[The Librarian]

My God, how right you are - that gig was absolutely mindblowing! My life will never be the same. Thank you Sparks!
_________________
- My word, she's from Germany -

[Lady Is Lingering]