Date:

Sun, 2008/05/18

Venue:

Carling Academy, Islington, London

Legendary art-pranksters Sparks have set themselves a mission impossible: to play live every one of their multiple-decade spanning records. Are they nuts? Can it be done? Ian Atherton finds out...

As Chuck D recently put it, the current trend for bands to perform their classic albums live is "a dream for promoters, a fantasy for fans and a challenge for the artist”. However, only a band as ambitious, singular and downright reckless as Sparks could take the challenge to the extreme and re-learn their entire four-decade back catalogue. These records include more than 250 songs, many of which have never been played live.

<p>What follows is an energetic, passionate and note-perfect rendering of the record...</p>

For the fans who don’t rave about such albums as Propaganda or Indiscreet, the highlight of Sparks’ career to date is the 1973 glam-tinged Kimono My House LP. It spawned their best-known single, This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us.

It’s a raucous version of this LP that opens the third night of the month-long series, with wide-eyed frontman Russell Mael visibly overwhelmed by the reception from the sell-out crowd. His keyboardist brother Ron is clearly determined to stick to his surly headmaster routine, despite the exceptional circumstances. What follows is an energetic, passionate and note-perfect rendering of the record. Quirky, nuanced baroque-pop masterpieces such as ‘Here In Heaven’ and ‘Thanks God It’s Not Christmas’ are punctuated with enthusiastic between-song chat.

For those with a coveted ‘golden ticket’ (all 21 nights, yours for £350) there’s still much to look forward to – the chunky disco of No 1 In Heaven, the self-mimicry of Plagiarism and the classical tinges of Lil’ Beethoven. But Kimono My House is going to be difficult to beat.

For more on the Sparks concerts, see Parsley’s Column

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Chuck D Reviews

SPARKS