Who
Sparks
Support
Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer
Where
Wolverhampton The Civic At The Halls
When
22nd June 2023
Price
£55.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Seated, in the middle
Comments
My appreciation of Sparks has been accumulating since watching them live in 2017, and I'd also had a few mates claim enthusiastically that they were up for seeing them too. As per usual, when the occasion arrived they had no interest in joining me, and as it wasn't well-publicised that the show was seated it was just not feasible to bring anyone else along anyway. But it's their loss, and I purchased my ticket exactly four months before the show. I heard Sparks Greatest Hits once or twice but realised last time that they'd only played three hits from it, so I switched my focus to hearing a live set from 2017 instead, which I guessed would be a much better representation of what I'd get to hear them playing. My preparations stepped up a few days before when I realised that I needed to listen much more to The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte single, and I delighted in the video with Cate Blanchett dancing around, as well as Ron and Russell doing subtle but equally brilliant choreography. Sparks have no right to be so good over 50 years into their career, and yet here they were! It was a surprise that the show was seated, as last time had been standing and as they're so far removed from the nostalgia circuit it did feel like a strange choice. It had been mostly sunny days prior with occasional thunder and rain, and naturally the forecast was taking a turn for the worst for when I ventured to Cork and Limerick less than 48 hours after this concert, primarily to watch Kraftwerk. This show was announced well after I'd organised that, and seems to have been a last minute addition to the Sparks tour, making me grateful I'd not travelled further to see them playing elsewhere when they ended up playing Wolves anyway.

It had been a busy week, as the night before this show I went into Stafford to watch the 50th anniversary screening of The Wicker Man, which was a great watch but finished later than expected due to a rather long Q&A preceding the main feature. I also enjoyed a fairly quiet day of work as I was starting to wind down for my holiday, hearing the Wicker Man soundtrack and Neon Neon as well as watching a cheeky bit of TV. The German Donor Kebab in Wolves city centre hadn't quite opened yet so I stayed in for tea and to sort a few photos, only making an extra effort to get petrol and take advantage of the considerably cheaper prices in Wolverhampton. I again had to download a stupid app for the tickets, and again was the only person to park in my super secret and incredibly convenient free parking spot! It was a sunny and appealing evening, and although the running times online were pretty vague I'd deduced that the doors were opening at 7pm and that Sparks wouldn't be onstage then. For starters there'd be a support act, but it's always a shocker that everyone else magically knows when the show starts without any information. I felt relaxed enough to make some notes on my phone while having a pint at the Parisian, which was a pleasant drink but not as decent as the La Trappe beer they used to offer. Thanks to the concert and the completion of more roadworks, the city felt busier and much more appealing than it had, and I could have marked the occasion with another visit to the Lithuanian restaurant but I knew that would be silly and greedy.

Once I got to the venue I was dismayed to see that the brilliant organisation of Blur had been replaced by unnecessarily thorough searches, leading to an unfeasibly long queue that they were struggling to manage. And in the end I was just able to walk around the scanners anyway and get in without a search, as they were running out of time and had to speed things up. Absolute fucking morons, and completely inappropriate security for a moderately sedate seated concert. And the fact it was randomly applied made the whole thing even more shambolic. Why couldn't they just have stuck with the totally effective and fast system they'd used for Blur? Twats! The weather was quite stuffy as I was wearing a coat to put my camera in, figuring that I'd be able to take it off and put it on my seat anyway. The Titanic sub was on the news as having imploded, which was a sad end to a massive news story, but I was now intent on getting to my seat, arriving relatively early and none the wiser about the running times tonight. I popped to the loo but didn't check out the merchandise, instead heading to my seat and finding it pleasingly quite far forwards. It was something of a mystery why the show was seated when the 2017 Birmingham show had been standing, but this arrangement at least spared me the wasted effort of continuing trying to get someone to join me. The crowd was a pleasing mix of younger and older fans, but I can't say I paid too much attention. There were some lovely blasts of cool air coming into the venue, and although it always feels a bit lame to be sitting at a concert, it was certainly much more comfortable and relaxing, despite the efforts of the security fuckwits to negate the chilled atmosphere. As far as I can remember the background music was classical too, and on the drum kit was a top down picture of a coffee cup and a mention of The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte, and everything was already all set up for the main act.

A little after 7.30pm, support act Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer took to the stage. He was just one guy with what Wikipedia says is a banjo ukulele and he was accompanied by a backing tape. He sported glasses, a moustache and a suit and was a fascinating and compelling performer. Basically his style was to perform songs in an incredibly posh accent, and he has to be heard to be believed. He encouraged a few singalongs, and I took a few pics too. He proclaimed that this was his last night on tour with Sparks, and claimed to be the best act to support Sparks since Queen. Queen supported Sparks? Woah! Most unusually and excitingly he delivered a couple of Sparks covers, including a thrilling take on Amateur Hour that meandered into other sounds before regrouping to become a version of Missionary Position! Little did I know that Sparks wouldn't be playing these great tunes tonight, but it gave him the freedom and space to make them his own. He finished around 8pm and I was a little miffed to accidentally wipe the initial notes I'd made on my phone about him. Perhaps that was my punishment for being cheeky enough to be on my phone while he was onstage, but oh well. Mr B was an outstanding and interesting support act, and that is rare for me. Technically The Supernaturals, The Coral and Badly Drawn Boy I'd seen as support acts but I'd attended with the specific intention of watching them, and it was inevitable that a large outdoor show such as Madness would bring along a somewhat recognisable act, namely The Zutons. But barring these large shows with big name supports, who knows how far back I'd need to go to find an unknown support act who was as good as Mr B? Certainly The Clint Boon Experience! remain the definitive example of a support slot with their brilliant set supporting Travis back in 1999, but Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer deserves an honourable mention as a wonderful supporting act. He was playing The Old Joint Stock Theatre in July, but that clashes with my London weekend watching Pulp, yet if I spot him again, I wouldn't mind going along.

As mentioned the stage was largely in place for Sparks, including Ron's keyboard placed shockingly low at the front of the stage. There were still some empty seats, making me wonder how people magically know when the show is going to start when this information just wasn't anywhere? It did largely fill up, but the seat to my left remained empty, perhaps symbolising the idiocy of a person who could have joined me and occupied that space. It seemed too weird and much more likely that it was a no show rather than an unsold seat. Also with a seated concert, my place is secured and people are less likely to rudely leave during the show. I was reading up on The Wicker Man on my phone and sitting down while I was able to, before Sparks took to the stage at 8.50pm! Of course the largest head in the history of the world decided to block my view, making it near impossible to film the entire band from a seated position, which was frustrating. Russell asked us if he could start, before opening with a very enjoyable and bouncy tune called So May We Start. One repeated theme of the evening was how absurdly catchy and enjoyable the music of Sparks was, as a few moments I'd never, ever heard before stood out, and that is truly rare and spectacular. Russell was wearing an unusual black/red split suit jacket and had a level of energy that was absurd for a 74 year old man. He sweated a lot, but that's to be expected given his impractical clothes. Behind the stage was a rig of lighting that was used to spell out Sparks at one point, and the band were quick to play the brilliant The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. I shot my first video, which was quite blurry but captured red lights and Russell repeating his actions from its video. Wonderful. I was surprised to hear Angst In My Pants, as last time they'd almost entirely disregarded their older material that was on my Greatest Hits compilation beyond the three biggest singles, so this was pleasing but it also confirmed the shocking truth that the new music by Sparks is at least as good as their legacy material.

I'd never heard Beaver O'Lindy but it was introduced as one from their second album, and they were spelling some of the words out on the lights behind them. Briefly a rainbow was projected there but my camera missed it, and the second older hit followed in When I'm With You. The set was great, with a large stage and pleasing lights, creating quite a different vibe to the slightly more chaotic and intimate atmosphere that Sparks had exuded at their Birmingham 2017 concert. The tunes from the Latte album were excellent, with Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is being introduced as a song from the perspective of a 10 month old baby who has had enough of life and decided they want to go back to where they came from! Russell commented from the cheers that there must be a lot of 10 month old babies in the audience tonight! It was unbelievable that the probable highlight of the show was a totally unknown song, but all I can say to that is balls! And Balls it was, which was a tune from an album of the same name. It was silly and glorious and one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. I shot a short video capturing green lights, but I could have sworn that they were blue. Blue balls indeed! My videos were struggling to film around the largest head in the world, but I loved the cheeky false ending and Russell's energy and enthusiasm as he embraced the absurdity of the song. Ron was his usual self, sitting in his suit and glaring at us all, and it was a surprise when he stood up and sang a song Shopping Mall Of Love from the new album. His was more of an American rap/drawl than singing, but it was great to mix it up, and Russell danced around a bit rather than enjoying a well deserved breather. I shot another video, as I did for another new one called Escalator which was similarly fantastic, and I just had to capture that chorus. The muted blue lights changed to purple and then red, and Sparks just have no business being on such good form at their age!

This was followed by a few unknown songs that didn't stand out so much, including a totally random one where the entire crowd rose to their feet and didn't sit back down again. I didn't mind too much as it gave me the freedom to film better without the head in the way as that guy then chose to remain seated with no view whatsoever, but it was funny that the seats had now been rendered redundant, and it made me wonder whose idea it had been in the first place to make this a seated event? Naturally another giant further in front blocked my view a bit, but it had felt a bit silly to have remained sitting through such a high energy set, so it was good to be more animated. I shot another video for When Do I Get To Sing "My Way", which was really good, and I doubt it was a coincidence when later on the band launched into a tune that sounded even more like My Way. The show then reached its commercial peak with a duo of their biggest hits - first up was The Number One Song In Heaven! I shot another video capturing blue lights and Russell enthusiastically pointing to the air to symbolise the number one. I'd forgotten the brilliant moment when Ron stood up and shuffled to the centre and suddenly indulged in a brief bout of manic dancing before visibly re-slumping and shuffling back to his keyboard, and my camera let me down by failing to record it and choosing to shut down instead. An amazing moment and the falsetto vocals are extraordinary. No wonder I used to think that the singer was a girl! As I hinted above, this was followed by This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us, and for many people this remains Sparks "one hit wonder", and they just don't know just how much more the band have to offer. It was this video I uploaded onto Facebook afterwards, with green lights and clapping and more lights as the song exploded on the chorus. The gun shots were even present and correct, it's just a shame that my camera was blurring whenever I zoomed in or out.

After This Town was an extended and heartfelt ovation, and Russell teasingly sat down next to his brother Ron at the keyboards briefly. The main set then finished appropriately with a song called Gee, That Was Fun, and Ron broke out of his stage persona to be engaged and applaud his band as Russell introduced them all, including a drummer who'd been playing with them for 20 years. There were four extra members, and although they faded into the background as intended, they'd done a superlative job bringing this complex music to life. Sparks left the stage before returning with My Baby's Taking Me Home, which is one I've always appreciated. I shot a video amid muted lights, and although the band played it in a low key manner, it was a good moment nevertheless. I'd expected Amateur Hour but there were no more hits to come, with the band finishing on All That, which I just did not know. Ron stood again and gave a really heartfelt speech about it being the last night of their tour and that they would be proceeding onto the festival circuit and the shorter sets that this entails. The brothers stood side by side and soaked up the applause, with Russell shaking a few hands up front and waving to the balcony before the brothers and their band made their farewell. I'd shot a video of this song and it sounded quite traditional and low key. Of course Sparks had to get their customary selfie with the crowd, although the camera was at a low angle and most of the fans were invisible as a result. Sparks hadn't mentioned it specifically but they were actually playing Glastonbury the very next night, bringing their truncated show to headline the Park Stage against Arctic Monkeys. And I've got to say, if I was attending I'd probably have been there for them!

For Glastonbury, Cate Blanchett appeared onstage with them to recreate the Latte video and excellent film director Edgar Wright was on hand to take the band photo at the end. At Glasto it included the rest of the band in the pic, and at the time of writing I've recorded that performance to my PC after utilising a sound boosting extension to offset the problem of Chrome being randomly quiet on my new computer. It's hard to believe that Sparks had been releasing music since 1971 and still sounded so vital and exciting, and my decision to see them again was only matched in its brilliance by the utter moronic stupidity of my friends for not bothering to join me. Sparks were a totally different level to most of these nostalgia acts, and even a cut above many of the 1990s/00s acts who are still going well by virtue of being on top of their live game and not due to good new material. It was nice to be out early, escaping by 10.30pm, and finding that still no one else had parked in my super secret parking area. I was quick to remove the stupid ticket app from my phone again and was frustrated by some fuckwit beeping at me for no reason as I tried turning right. A road was closed but this actually made my shortcut home easier than normal, but I ended up going to sleep later as I decided to loudly enjoy some Sparks music on my headphones before retiring for the night. I was quick to write up some notes but as 48 hours after the show I was in Cork (Ireland) and this holiday was quite rapidly followed by a London visit for Blur at Wembley and then a Porthmadog holiday in the exact opposite direction, I have only managed to write this up four weeks and two further concerts later. Even with a relatively quiet work week between holidays, it was still a struggle to catch up. So it was a surprise that Amateur Hour and Missionary Position had been left out, but as Mr B had hoovered them up it did make sense. I could list more tunes that Sparks could have played, and it's a testament to their quality that these are mostly newer songs such as Hippopotamus. 8.5/10 feels a bit mean, but they were pushing 9/10, which they had no right to do. What a night!
Setlist
So May We Start
The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
Angst In My Pants
Beaver O'Lindy
When I'm With You
Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is
It Doesn't Have To Be That Way
Balls
Shopping Mall Of Love
The Toughest Girl In Town
Escalator
We Go Dancing
Bon Voyage
Music That You Can Dance To
When Do I Get To Sing "My Way"
The Number One Song In Heaven
This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us
Gee, That Was Fun
My Baby's Taking Me Home
All That

Mark: 8.5/10