Cool Places: Sparks in Finland

 Cool Places: Sparks in Finland

  

            Finland is a very cool place in many respects, not least because there are many Sparks’ fans there! However, the brothers’ official visits to Finland have been somewhat sporadic: there was, in fact, a lengthy gap between their first gig there in 1975 and their next appearance in 2008.  Nevertheless, the recent 2022 concert in Helsinki, as part of the European leg of an extensive Spring tour, showed that there is a loyal and enthusiastic fan base there, with members old and new.

 Early Days

            Sparks first came to Helsinki for a gig on 2 October 1975, as part of a brief European tour prior to their lengthy U.K. series of dates throughout the autumn. Ron and Russell were accompanied on that occasion by their British band members Trevor White (guitar), Ian Hampton (bass) and Dinky Diamond (drums).  The concert took place at Helsinki’s Kulttuuritalo (or House of Culture), a modern building designed by the renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. The band played in the semi-circular auditorium in front of a simple bank of lights, Russell resplendent in long curls, red braces, short-sleeved white shirt and dark pants while Ron wore his customary formal white shirt and tie. The band were also dressed casually. The varied set list included songs from the 1974 albums, Kimono My House ('Talent is an Asset', 'This Town', 'Falling in Love with Myself') and Propaganda ('Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth'), and showcased new songs from the recently released Indiscreet (September 1975): 'Look, Looks, Looks', which opened the show, 'Get in the Swing' and 'Without Using Hands'.  For this last number, the band employed a dramatic device that was to bear fruit decades later as the concept behind the Two Hands One Mouth show: at the end of the song, the lights gradually dimmed to two spotlights, and then to one spot only on Ron's hands as Russell softly repeated the closing lines.  For an Encore they played 'Happy Hunting Ground' and 'How Are You Getting Home?' (Indiscreet) as well as 'Girl from Germany' from A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing (1972). This range of material is a reflection of the astonishingly prolific nature of this period in the early career of the young Maels, and this gig, despite a microphone problem for Russell at one point, already demonstrated the characteristic energy and power that fans have come to associate with Sparks' shows. 

 Interviewers beware!

             The day before the live show, Sparks took part in an interview for Finnish television that became increasingly surreal. The very young-looking band are sharing a large chocolate cake while Ron talks seriously about what he perceives as the current fashion for conservatism. Pressed on this by the interviewer, he claims that the age of idealism is over, and there seems to be nothing to be in favour of any more. When he stresses that this is not meant in the political sense, Russell interjects that Sparks are certainly not political, a strategy that, with a few notable exceptions, has remained largely true to this day. Ron’s assertion that perhaps the new fashionable movement is hedonism prompts Russell to indicate the chocolate cake as proof! When the discussion moves on to differences between America and Europe, Russell asks whether ‘Finland is part of Europe, in a Finnish person’s mind?’, a somewhat surprising (although possibly philosophically profound!) question that elicits a curt ‘Yes’ from the interviewer. The interview takes an even more surreal turn as, at the moment that they are asked about their project with the famous French star Jacques Tati, the chocolate cake slowly collapses, enabling Russell to say that that precisely sums up the state of the project. This interview was not shown on the next morning current affairs and entertainment programme Tasavallassa Tapahtua as planned, but was shown on another entertainment show, Iltatähti, on 21 October.  Sparks were clearly already showing off another of their undoubted talents: wrong-footing unwary interviewers!

 Some years later….

             Finland was not blessed with another live concert until 16 June 2008, when Sparks appeared at the Tavastia-Klubi in Helsinki. Videos on YouTube of some of the concert begin with a shot of the imposing doors of the club. Finland was one of the first countries in Europe, along with Estonia and Lithuania, to see live performances of songs from Exotic Creatures of the Deep (2008) after its première in London at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 13 June at the culmination of the 21 x 21 Sparks Spectacular. Before the show, Ron did an interview with journalist Hannu Björkbacka, who tells us that he was the only journalist left after an extended sound set-up delay, and admiringly describes Ron as ‘a friendly and humble craftsman’. Against a background hub-bub of activity, Ron is remarkably relaxed and forthcoming about Sparks’ mission of ‘pushing the limits of what pop music can do’. He describes how, prior to Lil’ Beethoven (2002). they threw away about twenty songs because they felt that they were ‘going through the motions and not pushing themselves’, which he found painful, because each song is his ‘little baby’. They then went into the studio without any songs to explore a new sound, a writing process that they have followed ever since. Bjӧrkbacka, referring to the song ‘Strange Animal’, asks about the ‘emotional core’ of a song, and Ron agrees that their music always strives to work on two levels. When asked whether he sees Sparks’ music as entertainment or art, he reveals that he looks to Cole Porter and Gershwin for inspiration in achieving a blend of simplicity and sophistication, rather than contemporary pop. Inevitably, the discussion turns to the 21 x 21 Spectacular, which Ron says was inspiring for them on many levels, not least because some of the albums that had not been successful commercially were actually great when performed live, because they had a strong band, and ‘some songs were pretty good’. He also hints that there is hope of a compilation video of the event, because all the shows were filmed from one central camera. (We are still waiting for that one, Ron!). When pressed about future plans, he speaks about the five years they had spent on developing a screen version of the Japanese manga comic Mai the Psychic Girl in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that there were still hopes that a full-length film might see the light of day. It is impossible not to admire Ron’s calm and kindness in this informative interview which took place at clearly a very hectic point in the day.

     Ron also says in this interview that, as they have not played in Finland for a long time, they have included a number of songs from throughout their career in that evening’s show. Indeed, the generously long and wide-ranging set list included five songs from Exotic Creatures ('Good Morning', 'Strange Animal', 'I Can't Believe That You Would Fall For All The Crap In This Song', 'I've Never Been High' and 'Lighten Up Morrissey') as well as a mixture of favourites and numbers less frequently played live from earlier albums: 'Up Here In Heaven' and, of course, 'Amateur Hour' and 'This Town' from Kimono My House (1974), 'Propaganda', 'At Home, At Work, At Play', 'Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth', and 'Something for the Girl With Everything' (Propaganda (1974)), 'Get In The Swing (Indiscreet (1975)), 'Goofing Off' (Introducing Sparks (1977)), 'Number One Song In Heaven' (from album of the same name (1979)), 'When Do I Get To Sing My Way' (Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins (1994)), 'Suburban Homeboy' from Lil Beethoven (2002) and 'Dick Around' from the 2006 album Hello Young Lovers. This huge and varied programme was not only to encourage Finnish fans, old and new, to explore earlier albums and ‘catch up’, but reflects Ron and Russell's perception of what works well in live performance and the constant innovation and consistently high standard of Sparks' work over four decades.

Finnish treats

             This Helsinki gig also had some further especially memorable moments: the audience were stamping and clapping in anticipation before the start of the show and for the opening number 'It's a Sparks Show Tonight', Ron took to the stage alone and mimed to the song while doing a mini-striptease, throwing his long mackintosh into the audience. He also caused a sensation by appearing for the Encore in a T-shirt embellished with a picture of an elk and the words 'Finnish Playboy'. Russell was, for once, more conservatively dressed in a long-sleeved black T-shirt, with black braces and red pants and a matching jacket that was removed at some point. Russell demonstrated his skill for delighting a crowd by speaking in Finnish, proclaiming his liking for things typically associated with the country; salmiakki (salted liquorice, which is delicious but an acquired taste), Fazeria (a make of chocolate), Iittala (Nordic homeware design), the children's book favourite Moomin and, of course, Finland (Suomi). Each item was greeted with cries of surprised delight, admiration and 'Thank you' from the audience. He had clearly been well coached! This strategy, when on tour, of addressing a few introductory words to the audience in their own language, even if only briefly, always creates an affectionate rapport and is another example of Ron and Russell's close attention to the details of successful performance.  This endearing episode, and the closing moments of the gig, as Russell introduces the band, this time in English (Jim Wilson and Marcus Blake (guitars and backing vocals, both from the band Mother Superior), Steve McDonald (bass) and Steven Nistor on drums), can be seen on YouTube. These were the same musicians, as Russell points out, who played the 21 nights of the Sparks Spectacular in London. Their reward for sticking with them throughout that marathon, was to play in Finland, Russell announces to rapturous applause. After the last encore, 'Suburban Homeboy', Russell shouts out 'moi, moi' (bye bye) as the ecstatic audience finally allows the equally delighted band to leave the stage.

A new venture

            Ron and Russell were back at the Tavastia-Klubi again in 2012, this time alone for a performance on the Two Hands One Mouth tour. There had been a short break since the show in London on 13 June 2012, which they have described as a trial run of the stripped back format, and the tour came via gigs in Latvia and Lithuania to arrive in Helsinki on 7 October. Despite their anxieties about appearing for the first time without a band and the greater exposure and focus on Ron and Russell that this entailed, the tour was going down a storm, and the Helsinki show was no exception.  Beginning with Ron's solo performance at the keyboard of the gorgeous overture, which was greeted with repeated cheering and clapping along with the beat, the show consisted of a massive list of twenty songs from throughout their career including some not so often seen in live performances (notably 'Sherlock Holmes' from Angst in My Pants (1982), 'Under the Table With Her' (Indiscreet (1975)) and excerpts from The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (2009).  The songs were apparently chosen for their viability in the reduced and concentrated musical medium. In various interviews at the time, Ron and Russell explained that they had discovered that not all of their repertoire was suitable for this treatment, and that they wanted to maintain the same power, aggression and urgency as though they were playing with a full group.  The format was particularly nerve-wracking for Ron, who had to play alone live with neither band nor computer to support the music, which had to be recast for keyboard alone. The new arrangements are, in fact, magnificent. A huge benefit in their view was that the more intense focus on the vocals foregrounded the lyrics and emphasised their wit and subtlety, as well as the amazing range of Russell's voice, as they were not competing with a 'sonic blast'. A specially written piece, ''Two Hands, One Mouth', a song with a fairly blatant double meaning (which was more evident in live performance, as the audience in Finland as elsewhere quickly grasped), brought the show to a close.

Helsinki loves Sparks

Russell, who wore a brown suit with cut-off pants (for which he seems to have a penchant) and black shirt, introduced himself and Ron, in short-sleeved dark shirt, in Finnish and later, addressing the audience as 'Suomi-ystävät' ('Finnish friends'), proceeded again to list his 'favourite' Finnish things. This time, he says, he loves not just Panda's liquorice and Gravlax (a Nordic speciality of cured raw salmon in dill, which receives an amusingly mixed response from the audience), but a range of celebrated Finnish artists and designers: Essa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra conductor, Alvar Aalto, the architect and furniture, glassware and textile designer, and Marimekko, the celebrated design house known for its fabrics for home furnishing and fashion. Furthermore, Ron loves Aki Kaurismäki, the screenwriter and actor, who with his brother Mika Kaurismäki, founded a film production company and the Midnight Sun Film Festival. This engaging saunter through aspects of Finnish culture (relatively unfamiliar to most people in Britain) is enlightening, and it is easy to imagine that they might indeed appeal to the Maels' own tastes and interests. The delirium all this appears to unleash in the Helsinki audience only abates when Ron initiates the lush introductory bars of 'Singing in the Shower'. This tour, which was to go on to Norway, Sweden and Germany in mid-October, was, as fans will know, immortalised in the superb live album Two Hands, One Mouth, Live in Europe (2013), although the different locations of the numbers are not identified, apart from Russell's final speech before the title song, which is clearly addressed to 'all our friends in Manchester'.  (Thank you, Russell.)  In an interview with Ron from Helsinki airport published on 15 October in the Sabotage Times, as well as asserting that he was buying cans of reindeer meat on sale at the airport as souvenirs (well, he would, wouldn't he), he spoke about their movie projects, Mai the Psychic Girl and The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, and a new project, work for which was then about a third of the way through. One can only speculate that this refers to the screenplay for the movie Annette, directed by French director Leos Carax and released in 2021, unless there is another major project being kept under wraps.

Hippopotamus sighted in Finland

            The subsequent Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth tour did not play in Finland although it did reach Sweden, nor, for some reason, did FFS, the inspired collaboration between Sparks and Franz Ferdinand, perhaps because their hugely successful European tour in 2015 concentrated more on appearances at music festivals.  However, Sparks' fans in Finland will have been delighted to be amongst the first to hear songs from the new album, Hippopotamus, live, at the Flow Festival on 12 August 2017.  Of course, we know that this date is Ron’s birthday and Sparks posted a picture of Ron in front of a shop window containing a Moomin toy, and the words, ‘Happy Birthday Helsinki Boy’. On the 15^th, we were treated to a picture of Russell at the Moomin pop-up exhibition at Stockmann, the famous department store in Helsinki. The Flow Festival, founded in 2004, is a celebrated annual urban music and arts festival that takes place in the grounds of the old Suvilahti Power Plant on a number of stages and features not just Finnish and international musicians, but the visual arts, films, design, talks, food and drink. The line-up of the highly praised new band consisted of Zach Dawes (bass), Tyler Parkford (keyboards), both of whom are from the Los Angeles band Mini Mansions, Evan Weiss (guitar, from Junk), Taylor Locke (guitar) and seasoned Sparks drummer Steve Nistor on drums.  Ron and Russell were there as well, of course! Their outfits were coordinated stripes, a look subsequently adopted by many fans. Ron stood out in an elegant striped jacket and tie, while Russell’s striped top worn with loose cut-off pants over bare legs and black shoes with red laces divided opinion everywhere. They played four songs from Hippopotamus ('What The Hell Is It This Time', 'Hippopotamus', 'Edith Piaf Said It Better Than Me', 'Missionary Position') and nine of their best-known numbers. As elsewhere on this tour, the band’s energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment were evident and infectious. They were greeted and applauded as warmly as ever, but shortly after their set the heavens opened for an epic rainstorm.  Fortunately, as we know, Sparks are waterproof so 'nothing of a liquid nature was gonna mess with them'! Or, as Sparks commented on their ‘Helsinki, kiitos!’ post, thanking fans for their warm welcome, ‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’!   At least Sparks-loving festival goers went away happy.  Although the second Hippopotamus tour of 2018 did go to Scandinavia, playing in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, it did not this time stop over in Finland.

New tour, old haunts

Of course, all the dates for the 2020 tour in support of the widely acclaimed new album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip had to be postponed because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as did the rearranged dates in May 2021, but Sparks made the brave decision to go ahead with the tours of the US and Europe in April/May 2022. Additional dates were added, one of which was in Helsinki on 3 May, at the Kulttuuritalo, where they first performed in 1975. Taking advantage of the extra day between gigs, two pre-show photos on the official website featured once again Russell’s liking for the Moomin stories. This time he is pictured standing before a picture of the mischievous Little My on the window of the Moomin store, and with a large model of the cold, lonely Groke, who has clearly found a friend at last (their expressions in this one are remarkably similar!)  An added bonus was a picture of both Russell and Ron on the stage of the Kultturitalo before the show.

This event surely brought back memories for both the boys and anyone who was fortunate enough to be there 47 years previously!  When Russell referred to this during the concert, Ron bent down and put his head in his hands in disbelief, while a fan at the front of the audience enthusiastically waved his original 1975 ticket, to Russell’s delight. The other members of the superb five-piece band (guitarists Evan Weiss and Eli Pearl, newcomer Max Whipple on bass, Steve Nistor on drums and Tyler Parkford on additional keyboards) were suitably impressed! As elsewhere, Finnish fans were surprised and pleased at the set list, which opened with ‘So May We Start’ (from their recent award-winning movie, Annette), and mixed songs from every decade of Sparks’ career, including ‘Wonder Girl’, ‘Tips for Teens’, ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way’, and some numbers seldom performed live (‘Under the Table With Her’, ‘I Married Myself’, ‘The Shopping Mall Of Love’, and ‘Music That You Can Dance To’). In fact, two of the latter produced moments cherished by fans throughout the tour: Russell gazing lovingly into a hand mirror in ‘I Married Myself’ and Ron’s spoken narrative in ‘Shopping Mall’, especially the intonation and fist pump of the repeated ‘Yeah’. The Encore finished with an emotional rendition of ‘All That’, which, together with the hilarious ‘Lawnmower’ and the operatic ‘Stravinsky’s Only Hit’, were the only numbers from A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. The audience were apparently a little reserved though very appreciative at first, but were on their feet dancing towards the end of the show.

There was no co-ordinated band colour scheme this time – Russell dazzled in bright yellow pants paired with a short dark woollen jacket accessorized with a Hello Kitty pin, while Ron wore a sombre outfit of a long, collarless coat and loose, wide-legged pants (with no tie!). The rest of the band were dressed in unobtrusive dark casual wear.  At one point, Russell donned a nautical cap (ylioppilaslakki) worn by high school graduates in Finland which is popular in May Day celebrations. In fact, hats were a bit of a feature on this occasion: guitarist Eli Pearl wore his beret, and Steve Nistor on drums also, unusually, had a hat. Another pleaser for this specific crowd was Russell’s speech in Finnish, once gain listing his particular Finnish favourites. His tastes (for salmiakki, cookies, reindeer and Marimekko) have not changed much over the years, it seems. As usual, the audience were impressed and delighted.

A long and glorious career has stretched between these two Kulttuuritalo concerts, and, with the Edgar Wright documentary, The Sparks Brothers (released in summer 2021) and their own musical movie, Annette, chosen as the film to open the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Sparks are riding higher than ever in the music firmament. Their activities last year now include another link with Finland: the release of ‘Your Fandango’, their collaboration with Todd Rundgren (who produced their first album), is accompanied by a stunning video by Finnish media artist Liisa Vääriskoski, in which an elegant woman in an eighteenth-century portrait comes to life and embarks on an Alice in Wonderland-like excursion through fantastical scenarios. Visually gorgeous and characteristically humorous, the video is a surreal collage of images, including various cameos of Ron, Russell and Todd, that brilliantly complements the complexity of the music. Finnish fans will undoubtedly be delighted at this cultural collaboration, and will be looking forward to their next Sparks encounter in (as we all hope) the not too distant future.

 

Penny Brown

May 2022

penelope.brown44@virginmedia.