SPARKS

[PeterE]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/franz-ferdinand-sparks-make-live-5895619

[TommyGun]

SPOILER ALERT!









The setlist according to setlist.fm was:



Police Encounters
Johnny Delusional
Man Without A Tan
Do You Want To (Franz Ferdinand cover)
Things I Won't Get
Collaborations Don't Work
Save Me from Myself
This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us (Sparks cover)
Little Guy From The Suburbs
Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand cover)
Dictator's Son
Power Couple
Call Girl
Piss Off
Encore:
So Desu Ne
The Number One Song in Heaven (Sparks cover)
Michael (Franz Ferdinand cover)
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[terry welch]

A few clips have appeared today on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ffs&search_sort=video_date_uploaded
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There's a Hippopotamus, a Hippopotamus...

[Bobby Muir]

One correction to the set list was My Way which was after The Power Couple and it segued into Call Girl (I think).

Good picture in the Daily Record. Got the back of my baldy napper beautifully. Not often you see a picture of the back of your own head is it.
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But when I trimmed it real small my Jewish friends would never call.

[TMA]

It was When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' that did that segue, I've added it to the Setlist FM entry. Would it be against the rules to post a recording of the show? Not sure how it's turned out yet, but I got the whole thing.

[Deano]

Best gig i've seen for yonks.This was even better than Sparks at the ABC Glasgow back in 2006.Hot sweaty and near the front,loved every single minute of it.The band seemed to really enjoy themselves.Don't hesitate to see FFS at the Barrowlands.Catch a bus train plane or get in a car and get up there.The atmosphere up there beats anything for certain.Barrowlands here we come hopefully. I am so buzzing for this live band.Thanks to everyone who put this whole thing together.

[mael22]

tma post it lets enjoy thanks

[Spyke]

An awesome night out, and certainly worth the lengthy journey. It was great to see Russell and Ron as part of a band again, and all the songs really came alive on the stage. Looking forward to catching up with everyone for the next show!
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"but we can hear what others can't hear..."

[Zebedee]

Five-star review from The Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/jun/17/ffs-review-a-frenetic-performance-that-escalates-through-genres

[alanphair]

Thank you Terry Welch. Will be going to the Troxy on Monday, travelling from Devon.

[allydodd]

Ok, away from the forum, certain friends bade me to commit this atrocity. Friends I owe much to..

Indiscreet this is, the shame of which I bare.

So SPOILER ALERT then…a major one…

Electrifying the debut gig was. Drenched in sweat we merrily were, all standing closely together in a dark hall, facing a stage too tiny to house one of the giants of rock far less two.. A (seconds out) sell out crowd drew the walls nearer. Venue was after all, the art school hall, an institution legendary in the genesis of Franz Ferdinand. How apt it is for the lanchpad of art rock combo FFS?

Scotland’s finest is one way of hailing Franz Ferdinand. However, the phrase is a bit clichéd with overuse, and even applies to lager infinitely inferior to the divine St Mungo’s being sold cheaply by their student bar. On a knife-edge independence referendum Scotland glinted unpredictably, it kept within the UK, but now won’t step aside from the spotlight. Its just weeks from a similarly exciting General Election, featuring a polarizing austerity debate at which Scotland’s fledgling female First Minister championed the Anti camp with an earthly charm pervading as far south as Liverpool. As a result Scotland defiantly changed colour from the UK to her nationalist yellow, strikingly contrary to the referendum outcome. Much of its seasoned political leaders it lost, and in one case, tragically.. Politically, it’s all shook up. Outwardly Scotland must look like a moody adolescent contradicting itself in its struggle for self-identity. How would a union of two bands fare in this confusing climate? In the heart of the self-determination debate, Franz Ferdinand boldly showed they were not an apolitical band resolutely serenading the independence cause. Culturally Franz Ferdinand continue to be regarded more important to Scotland, as the real, unfortunate, underestimated Franz Ferdinand was to Austria - if you heed Sue Woolman’s book she signed for me at the Edinburgh Book Festival. “Lanark”, the post-modern, landmark Scottish novel by Alasdair Gray, with a political dimension, is being staged theatrically at the forthcoming Edinburgh International Festival, with music by FFS member Nick McCarthy.

Rare for the Festival is that it has invited a concert by a rock band, none other than FFS.

But the best crowds belong to Glasgow..

Any notion that there were two band camps in the hall failed to materialise as fans beckoned with chants of “Eff! Eff! Ess!... Eff! Eff! Ess!”. True there had been a flurry of a few “Ron, Ron, Ron”s but it was Ron, the oddball creative genius from FFS being called for, not the bright Spark. A decade it may have taken for the two great bands to come to fruition. Tension, in the strained necks desperate for the first glimpse of the unit together, said it all. Whispers of something had floated over last few years. Notwithstanding, a whole new band defied even the wildest imaginings of everyone, (and some fans really do have wild imaginations). Universally, the album is regarded excellent, better than even the most ardent fan could predict. Its diversity is bewildering, a patchwork of perfection. Marvel at the myriad of styles, all stylish.

Faintly familiar was an orchestral theme being played out, as the long eager wait for the entry of the band crescendo-ed. Something futuristically archaic I deduced. Wtf was that? Not Star Wars. Something British, BBC. Dr Who had went to Glasgow Art School, I mused, but it wasn’t his theme tune. FFS, '' its Blake’s 7!! To roars, the seven musicians crammed past the instruments onto the miniscule stage. Well, that was six slick rockstars with Ron as Ron, face of austerity.

Strikingly handsome were the two front men, Alex Kapranos and Russell Mael, shoulder to shoulder, the way male friends instinctively do in these parts. Both had mikes in paw, ready for crooning perhaps. Camper the better goes down best in the Sparks fans camp, it was to be recalled later than night. Flanking them to their left, was dashing guitarist Nick McCarthy, with mike on stand. Behind them Paul Thompson was at the drums. On the right, the lean figure of Ron Mael was peering mean from keyboard, with his white shirt illuminated like a fog light on a sail. Beside him was bassist Bob Hardy, a former student of the Art School.

Breaking through was Ron’s grand piano sound sounding grandly slow. “Police Encounters” they launched into. Oh, yes, lets rock’n’roll! And the contrasting voices interweaved colourfully like threads on a kilt. You could feel a wave of pleasure through the audience, washing away the frustration of the travel, the stress of snap sale of tickets, the wait. And it bounced. Little room to bounce, but I somehow managed it. Petite ladies were to my right and also behind me. Embarassing apologies from this clumsy oaf repeated throughout the night for toe crushing, only to be met with gleaming smiles of understanding.

Warily I glanced to my friends on the right. Under the weather was Douglas whose journey in had obviously been a real struggle, the effort of which I will remain eternally grateful. In the darkness, he was sporting a broad appreciative grin. Spyke seemed to be enjoying himself too, well worth his trek from Birmingham. In fact, everyone was.

Huge applause, whooping.

Ron disapproved.

To be honest, I am grappling with a divergence between the set-list by TommyGun and that stored by my own memory. From experience, I know to go with the set-list.

Johnny Delusional was resoundingly familiar, but still as fresh as a surf in the ocean. The driving “Man Without a Tan”, was perfect fodder for the sh*t hot synchrony of rhythm section, drummer Paul Thomson and bassist Paul Hardy. Fittingly, it flowed into “Do You Want to”, one of Franz Ferdinand’s anthems. My body had forgot its own weight, moving as if on a trampoline.

“Things I Won’t Get” was given a low key introduction by Nick, more than capably taking on lead vocals while playing rythmn as Alex took on lead guitar. Backing vocals were Russell’s, with a near feminine delicacy. Acclaim had already been expressed for the intelligence behind the song, a comforting relaxation from the frenetic tempo of its predecessors. Indeed, among the crowd, it went down like piping hot Ambrosia rice pudding on a rainy day in Scotland.

“Collaborations Don’t Work” was the opus of such magnitude that a watered down version would have been forgivable. Ambition was such FFS embarked on delivering it in its entirety. So complicated it is, I still am surprised with how its umpteen sections answer each other more fittingly on each play. If it were a painting, it would be like a Rembrandt, a Van Gough, a Rothko, a Giga, a Jenny Saville, and a Dali (sorry Ron) in the form of a jigsaw. Full of nice moments, is how it comes across live. All musicians had a line to sing, including Ron, who touring as Sparks manifested as a silent clown. However, the honours really went to Russell, whose vocals were awesomely operatic.

“Save Me from Myself” is fast becoming a favourite and was superb live.

Then it was That song. The one they had to play. “This Town Aint Big Enough for Both of Us” is a classic. Beguilingly it begins almost like a pre classical piece of music before explosions of hard rock with comic gunshots. Second best single of the splintered 70s in my book. It rocked the rock world like no other had before it had. And that night, live that’s what it was doing to the audience. Mad we all went. Wholly it was Russell sung, with soprano-in-flight like crystal glass vocals. Powering up the heavy rock wattage, Alex took lead guitar. Certainly its operatic intensity opened the stage door to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, for professionally heedful Queen were inspired by Sparks to go that bit further in breaking new grounds. Both masterpieces kept intact enigma and edginess eternally sealed freshness.

“Little Guy from the Suburbs” was a welcome change of style, a dreamy journey. Its pace, and with lines like “No Heroes in this life”, evoked lonely treks among open plains. It had the feel of a theme for one of those occasional late Western film, the realist sort that defies the gung-ho defined genre. Alex’s deep dulcet tones put you in mind of a handsome but regret ridden cowboy, and his acoustic strumming gave a sense of riding. Backing vocals, higher but with reserved softness were from Russell were lulling to the spirits; the importance of the undervalued role of the backing singer in rock has long been overdue a book by someone with musical knowledge who can engage and write well.. where's Mr Monte ? Beautiful fretwork by Nick on lead, oozed atmosphere, as Ron’s keyboards came in culminating in a big picture sound. Pre smoking ban, everyone would’ve been swaying with little zippos lit.

“Take Me Out” was a Franz Ferdinand classic been I’d longing to hear live. As with Sparks, gigs selling out fast were hard to contend with. But this was better, benefiting from Ron's keyboard. Up and down I was jumping gleefully.

"Dictators' Song" kept up the pace with a good bass line, and again marvellous was the keyboard work by Ron.

The jarring “Power Couple” was like the jigsaw falling off the top of the keyboard into bits. The tune seems to tumble crazily through wrong notes, which wrongly sound right somehow. It feels right to bounce stiffly to it, which suits my inelegant moving. Imagine a moshpit full of cybermen. Or even more scary, one occupied by Gilbert and George (who R&R are frequently likened to). Matching frenetic lyrics anticipate the arrival of an influential couple to dinner. It’s the sort of piece that, expanded, would turn into the kind of farce British Theatre is good at. Irony is expected in the title and you don't know if its a FF jokey reference to Sparks, or Sparks humorous reference to the two bands. Especially bizarre were the vocals with Alex singing high and Russell singing unusually, almost demonically, deep. The Cybermen once sounded like this. Anything Mael orientated never fails to surprise.

“When Do I Get to Sing My Way” was Sparks’ 90s comeback hit in Britain, and one I feel special connection to, consequently. They’d spent years working in connection with a promising Tim Burton film project, “Mai the Psychic Girl”, which stalled sadly unrealised after a few years. The music from it is reputed to be quite wonderful, though, and there is an vibrant interest among film auteurs in Sparks right now. Its album, “Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins”, sparked a UK tour and gave me a previously unimaginable chance to see R&R live. Probably Alex and the boys too. Recently Sparks performed it live with the Heritage Orchestra at magnificent sell out shows in London’s Barbican. Alex had been there too, and had charmed us fans with a natural affability and affinity. On Valentine’s day, he had joined Russell on stage to duet the song with Orchestra in LA. Thank heaven for youtube which shared it. Since then its stuck in my mind that “My Way” is his song. It was great hearing him perform with Russell, but this time with all his fellow Franz Ferdinand musicians present I felt a oneness with the ensemble.

The transition into “Call Girl” was seamless, I recall. My flawed memory associates the preceeding track as a Franz Ferdinand one though. Perhaps it’s testament about how we feel about the completeness of the new band.

The union had worked.

After an energetic performance, it was time for the band to tell us to “Piss Off” with their punk hymn for the anti social masses of loners, with yet more vigor. But it only roused us for more.

An encore was becoming unavoidable through our passionate noise. Reforming into a synth outfit , the band took to the rearranged stage in a kind of ordered strangeness. Electronic drums brought Paul Thomson a welcomed closeness to the front of the stage. “SÕ Desu Ne”, the title Japanese - which might be a polite nod to the celebrated reciprocal but well-mannered love affair between Sparks and the Japanese nation - chirpily finalised the rendition of the whole FFS album. And the minimalistic way it finished with order and deliberateness of movement was indeed like the conclusion of a piece of performance art.

Sparks were the musical and visual blueprint for an entire genre of singer synth duos in the 80s, many charting more successfully with far simpler music. Paul returned to the traditional drumkit to thump out the now familiar introduction to the once daringly futurist “Number One Song in Heaven Part Two”. Yes, a little shuffle sneaked onto stage to round off the night…Never do we fail to erupt in laughter at the antics of the rock world’s cranky anti-hero, Ron. My keystrokes are punctuated by chuckles.

The pounding post punk of Franz Ferdinand hit “Michael” ended a night on a high point. I wished it would never stop.

Outside in the rain our spirits were still thriving, if our voices were in varying degrees of hoarseness. As a magnetic front man, Alex had thrilled according to a familiar face aglow with adulation.

If there had been any doubt as to the significance of this concert, then it was eclipsed by the sight of cultural commentator and TV regular Murial Gray chatting with renown DJ Billy Sloan in the foyer. She had probably studied at Glasgow Art School too.

This is just the first exciting chapter, and one summarised here inadequately. An adventure has begun. Deano says it all. Go.

[allydodd]