Fun. Joy. Love. Highlights of Sparks' Mad! tour in Europe

 

 

Fun, Joy, Love. Highlights of Sparks’ Mad! tour in Europe, June-July 2025

 

After four big shows in Japan (in Kyoto, Osaka and two in Tokyo), Sparks moved on to the European leg of the tour, beginning with two nights, 18^th and 19^th June, in London and a further sixteen dates in Manchester, Glasgow, Haarlem in the Netherlands, Brussels, Paris, Cologne, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, Milan, Bilbao, Dublin, Edinburgh and Wolverhampton. It was astonishing that with such a tough schedule over twenty-four days, the incredible energy and excellence of the performance was maintained throughout, despite having to contend with a severe heatwave that reached degrees into the 30s in some places.

The Band

The band was essentially the same musicians as for the Latte tour in 2023, with the exception of the new drummer, Darren Weiss, the brother of longstanding guitarist Evan Weiss. (As with the first band in the early 1970s, which included brothers Earle and James Mankey, the Sparks band once again has two sets of brothers.) As before, Evan Weiss and Eli Pearl were on guitars and Max Whipple on bass. A number of reviews commented on the superb work of the band and their energy, precision and commitment, praising their evident embracing of the range of music displayed in the set list. The French magazine Benzine remarked on the obviously proud collaboration of the young musicians with the (slightly older but forever young) Maels and the clear enjoyment they were deriving from the tour.

The Outfits

The band were in dark casual wear, while the stage was lit up by Russell’s eye-popping three- piece suits, in four different bright colours and designs. The flamboyant outfits, in bright or dark blue, red and yellow, featured Japanese images, many symbolising good luck, peace, longevity and happiness: peonies, red carp, cranes, stylised waves and dragons, and flowers like chrysanthemums and cherry blossom. The jacket was removed after a few numbers (unsurprisingly, given the temperatures) to reveal the patterned waistcoat over a black shirt. Ron, in contrast, wore a dark high-necked loose Japanese style jacket with dark baggy pants, except in Edinburgh where he donned his usual white shirt and a tartan tie (naturally). For some encores, he added a dark sweatshirt featuring an image of Mount Fuji, probably acquired in a recent souvenir shopping spree.  The odd hat appeared too - notably the baseball cap Ron assumed for his spoken version of ‘Suburban Homeboy’, bearing the legend ‘F**k the sun’ and the black Basque beret he flaunted at the concert in Bilbao. Always topical. In Haarlem (Netherlands), Sparks proudly showed off gifts from two inventive fans: baseball jerseys with Sparks on the front and the numbers 45 and 48 on the backs. Yes, it seems that there is a local baseball team called Sparks!

 

The Set List 

For this tour, the set list was another inspired combination of material from the new album, Mad! (already obviously familiar to many in the audience), the inevitable classic numbers and songs from seminal moments in Sparks’ career. It began, as was (and probably will always be) expected with ‘So May We Start’ from their movie musical Annette (2021) and, as in 2023, finished with ‘All That’ (A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, 2020).  There was a distinct 1970s vibe, as seven of the songs on the list came from that decade, some of them rarely performed live: the stomping ‘Reinforcements’ (Propaganda, 1974), ‘Goofing Off’ (Introducing Sparks, 1977), ‘Academy Award Performance’ and ‘Beat The Clock’ (No 1 In Heaven, 1979), and the biggest surprise of them all, an extraordinary rendering of ‘Whippings And Apologies’ ( A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing, 1972).  At the Wolverhampton concert Russell looked slightly overwhelmed by the lengthy standing ovation received by ‘Goofing Off’, so early in the show. Two songs represented the ‘80s, ‘All You Ever Think About Is Sex’ (In Outer Space, 1983) and ‘Music That You Can Dance To’ (Music That You Can Dance To, 1986), which proved to be such a popular choice on the Latte tour.  Once again, despite the band being on a platform in semi-darkness at the back of the stage, much praise from fans has been lavished on Eli’s snake-hipped dance moves, especially in ‘Music That You Can Dance To’.  For some reason, which may or may not have been because of an imposed curfew, ‘All You Ever Think About Is Sex’ was omitted from the show in Cologne. (It was ‘all right with us’, though.)

Ron unexpectedly took centre stage for a spoken version of ‘Suburban Homeboy’ (Lil’ Beethoven, 2002), his idiosyncratic delivery as entertaining as in 2023’s ‘Shopping Mall Of Love’. The concert built to its climax with the classic ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way’ which marked the renaissance of Sparks in the mid-1990s (Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins,1994) followed by ‘The Number One Song in Heaven’ (No 1 In Heaven, 1979) and ‘This Town Aint Big Enough For Both Of Us’ (Kimono My House, 1974), by which time, as reviewers remarked, the audience were beside themselves with delight.

The new songs from Mad! chosen for inclusion were ‘Do Things My Own Way’, which set out Sparks’ long held mission right at the start of the concert, ‘Drowned In A Sea Of Tears’, ‘JanSport Backpack’, ‘Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab’, and the anthemic ‘Lord Have Mercy’ which was the final song of the set.  These sounded even better live than on the album, although this fan at least would have liked to hear ‘A Little Bit Of Light Banter’ too. The heartfelt plea for the environment of ‘Please Don’t F**k My World’’ (A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, 2020) provided a quieter interlude between high powered energetic numbers. Russell explained that they had thought this song appropriate for the times in 2020, and that things could hardly get worse – ‘Boy, were we wrong’, he added. As with ‘Lord Have Mercy’, the inclusion of this song was a subtle suggestion of the rage at the state of the world informing the title of the new album. The encore further highlighted this idea with ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’ (from the album of the same name, 2023) which was followed by the sublime, ultra moving ‘All That’ (A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, 2020).  It is fair to say that the reception of most numbers was ecstatic at all the concerts, often with standing ovations at various points and even at the beginning, with loud cheers when Ron and Russell entered the stage.

Russell's voice seemed undiminished by age and unaffected by the heat, his singing as strong, energetic and expressive as ever. His repetition of his 1972 rendering of 'Whippings and Apologies' was extraordinary, and not a little unnerving!  

The Venues

              The venues were very varied, ranging from the historic to the modern. The Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London and the O2 Apollo in Manchester, are both Grade 2 listed buildings built in the 1930s in Art Deco style as cinemas and are notable for their white terracotta façades. Edgar Wright, director of The Sparks Brothers film, made a surprise appearance in Hammersmith to take the end of show ‘selfie’ for the band. The Salle Pleyel in Paris, a former classical music venue with balconies along three sides and a new one for Sparks, dates back to 1927. The Edinburgh Playhouse, first opened in 1929, is the largest concert hall in Scotland, while the Civic at The Halls in Wolverhampton (1938), with its balconies on three sides, has seen many of popular music’s greats on its stage. A more familiar venue for the band was the Cirque Royal in Brussels, with its circular auditorium reflecting its original purpose in the nineteenth century.  Sparks have played there before - in 2023 and 1975! The variety in styles of the more modern venues was striking too: the ultra-modern block of the Uber Eats Music Hall in Berlin, and, by contrast, the grand stone steps and colonnades of the curved Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. The Konserthuset in Copenhagen, home to the National Symphony Orchestra, is a spectacular example of Scandinavian design both inside, with its wood panels, and outside – lit at night it resembles a large blue cube. The concert in Cologne was moved to the Live Music Hall, where, at the height of the heatwave, the temperature in the building was estimated by fans to be c.45 degrees, but despite anxieties about Sparks performing in the conditions, the show went on as usual. At the end, Russell introduced the band members as ‘sweaty number 1’ etc.  For the first time, Sparks played in Italy, at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, which was built in anticipation of the closure for renovation of the famous La Scala opera house in 2002.

Many of these venues were fully seated, although, despite the largely vain restraining efforts of the security teams, large parts of the audience were on their feet dancing from early on. Although for numbers like ‘Music That You Can Dance To’, it would almost seem rude not to, such enthusiasm can, of course, be a bit of a problem because it is not always fair to people who want or need to remain seated, as comments on various fan sites shows.

              There were two outdoor venues in Europe: the BBK Festival in Kobetamendi, Bilbao, which also featured artists like Pulp and Kylie Minogue, and at Gruna Lund in Stockholm. At the latter amusement park, Sparks performed on a stage with a rollercoaster noticeable in the background, a fitting reminder of their cameo in the film of the same name that fans either like or hate. Unfortunately, there were technical problems here, with the sound system going down three times, including (ironically) during ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way’, but the audience gamely sang along to fill in.

The Lighting effects

              As in 2023, the lighting effects for this concert were original but relatively restrained. Behind the band, the lights surrounding square shapes changed to the beat and there were the obligatory moments of flashing lights from the centre of the squares. For this fan at least, the haze over the stage at the concerts I attended was rather too dark, which sometimes rendered the band at the back of the stage, and even Ron at his Ronald keyboard, almost invisible. 

Support Acts – no support acts! 

              Except in Paris, where the young French singer/songwriter Sam Sauvage performed a handful of his songs. With his blending of French chanson and pop influences (Bob Dylan, Les Rita Mitsouko and ….. Sparks!)) his observational and sometimes ironic lyrics, and the contrast between his formal attire and wild dance moves, he seems a good fit for Sparks. In an interview on BBC6 Music, Russell speaks of his discovery of Sam through his video for ‘Les Gens qui Dansent (J’Adore’)’ and his charming, cool and slightly rebellious performance. (Check him out.)

What the hell is it this time? Happenings and hitches

              It would not be a Sparks’ concert without some amusing happenings. Although not amusing for Sparks themselves, a number of technical hitches occurred which caused some merriment for the audience. In Stockholm, Russell had to ad lib about the heat. On the second night in Manchester, Ron abruptly got up and left the stage, to the audience’s consternation, leaving Russell to ad lib once again. At one point, Ron’s arm could be seen waving at Russell from the wings, seemingly urging him to fill in while a problem was sorted. Russell obliged with a guessing game of ‘Where’s Ron gone?’, his suggestions of shopping, visiting the sights of Manchester or to the bathroom greeted with varying degrees of approval from the audience. This was followed with a Georgio Moroder ‘joke’ in which the producer goes into a bar and says ‘We need a hit, boys!’ (presumably something Sparks heard from him all those years ago). When Ron eventually returned, the problem with his earpiece rectified, he proclaimed sternly that rumours that he had gone to the bathroom were false, before resuming his customary calm seat at the keyboard.

              In Brussels, Russell messed up the song order. He was describing ‘Please Don’t F**k Up My World’, when Ron again left his position and advanced to tap Russell on the shoulder and gestured him back to show him the set list on his keyboard. After peering closely, Russell laughed and said ‘there’s always something’, and announced they would do ‘Beat the Clock’ instead.  One of the amusing aspects of these small happenings is the audience reaction when Ron stands up unexpectedly, as though something momentous is about to happen. Of course, during ‘The Number One Song In Heaven’, it does – cheers resounded as Ron rose to do his famous ‘dance’, grinning madly and fanning himself afterwards. It was far too hot for this to last long though, and astonishing hat he did it at all.

The Speeches

              When introducing the members of the band, Russell played his usual game of pretending to forget about Ron, causing prolonged chanting of ‘Ron, Ron, Ron’ from the audience. At Wolverhampton, he (finally) introduced Ron as ‘on keyboard, composition and lyrics: that’s about all he does’. In Milan, he was presented as ‘il signore Mael, di Napoli’, which might have confused anyone new to the Mael world. At the final show of the European leg of the tour in Wolverhampton, Russell also read out the names of all the crew and their jobs, and thanked them warmly for making the shows so successful. He also included their manager Sue Harris, who had, apparently, even exceeded her responsibilities by picking them up from the train station!

As usual, at the end, both Ron and Russell spoke briefly, emphasising their gratitude at the heartwarming reception of their work and how this continued to inspire them to greater heights. Reviewers commented that they seemed reluctant to leave the stage as they soaked up the lengthy applause, and, indeed, they both seemed very moved by the audience reaction.

The Reviews

Without exception, reviews of concerts everywhere praised the exceptional and passionate energy of the performances (especially in the face of the heatwave), the inspired set list and the evident adoration of the audience. Classic Rock expressed this as ‘a hugely thrilling injection of joy and power’ describing Russell’s exuberant performance as that of a man half a century younger.  The longevity and yet sustained contemporary relevance of the band was admired repeatedly: ‘they have no business being so extraordinary’, concluded Classic Rock. The emphasis on joy and fun and the desire to create happiness was widely recognised.

And Finally…

              Sparks left us with the promise that they would be back soon and we all fervently hope that this will be the case. In the meantime, we hope that the US fans will love the shows as much as we have when the tour resumes there in September and that they will keep the photos, videos and comments coming so that we can relive and compare our memories.

Thank you, Sparks, for your sensational concerts, and thank you to the many fans for their views and photos on the fan sites that helped in compiling this piece.

 

Penny Brown

July 2025

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

 

 

How mad is Mad!?

 

 How mad is Mad!?

 

In all the promotional interviews for their new album, Mad! (2025), Russell Mael has pointed to the double meaning of the title word: both ‘crazy’ and ‘angry’, suggesting that it was an appropriate word for the times. In an interview with NME, he elaborated on this ‘everything feels like it’s completely out of control and the world is mad in all meanings of the word’. The exclamation mark in the title was specifically intended to reinforce that point. After the implicit and explicit political nature of songs on the previous album, 2023’s The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, that I discussed in a previous essay in this blog, more of the same might therefore have been expected, given the almost daily worsening state of US and world affairs. So, how mad, in either sense of the word, is Mad!?

We can look in vain for specific references to events or name-naming. But Sparks have always avoided overt political comment and Springsteen-like political rants at live shows. However, in the NME interview, Ron admitted that contemporary events in the US have affected their work: ‘We don’t want to be lecturing or sloganeering, but if it can be done in a way that’s a little more subtle? Those events are hard to avoid everywhere in the world now, but especially in the US. …We try not to be directly influenced by outside events, but you can’t help but have it have some kind of effect on what you’re doing.’

Their views on contemporary society have nevertheless always been apparent in the characters and scenarios in their songs. In the case of Mad!, their approach seems to me to be even more subtle than in Latte, although some songs certainly reveal links with that album and, indeed, other Sparks’ songs.  However, the ‘prophets of fear and doom’ referenced in the last song on the album are, in fact, never far away. The focus, however, is on individuals’ fears and uncertainties and, in some cases, on their ways of surviving mentally without going mad.

Despite the dynamic self-assertion of the opening song, ‘Do things My Own Way’, there are a number of unhappy or bewildered characters in the songs on Mad!  One of the singles released prior to the album, ‘Drowned in a Sea of Tears’, for example, could be seen as the fate of the girl who was crying in her latte, now overwhelmed by an unnamed grief.  The young woman observed weeping in a café by a stranger, who can only hazard a guess that ‘the world is to blame’ when he sees more unhappy people taking her place, is here seen through the eyes of her partner. He is shocked to discover that she was not as happy in their relationship as he thought, that although she appeared bright and vibrant externally, she is in fact totally consumed by an undefined and perhaps indefinable despair which, despite his desire to help her, is clearly irreparable. The situation suggests a serious failure in communication between the couple, the private agony of the woman compounded by efforts to maintain a cheerful public face, her ‘greatest talent’. We learn nothing of her sorrow, the focus being on the speaker whose own sadness is that ‘I almost saved her, I was so very near’. In hindsight, he sees that he was blind in his inability to realise and ease her fears which makes the double tragedy more affecting.  In an interview with Variety magazine, a discussion of sincerity discourages the search for a Sparks -like cynical or humorous touch: the lyrics are intended as perfectly straightforward and sincere – ‘love sucking is twist enough’.  Ron says that ‘leaning into wit’ is something that sets them apart from other bands, so that writing the lyrics for a song like this is difficult (‘in the traditional definition of what sincerity is in a song, this is more that).  He adds: ‘So you try to make the lyrics as special as possible without kind of resorting to a slight escape into some kind of humorous direction’. ‘Drowned in a Sea of Tears’ then, according to Ron and Russell, is an example of a ‘lost relationship kind of song’, a common enough situation but seen in a fresh way, that hallmark of Sparks’ songs.  The video for this single, featuring theatre director and actor Tina Kronis, ends with her sitting weeping desperately in a car as it fills up with water, a scene that has an inherent touch of eery absurdity in its literal explicitness, but is nevertheless a painful one.

              The bold and uncompromisingly defiant nature, both lyrically and musically, of ‘Do Things My Own Way’, suggest that self-reliance and an energetic pursuit of your goals is a strong defence against being overwhelmed or oppressed. Russell has commented repeatedly that this has been their mantra throughout their career (‘a rallying cry we’ve kept to ourselves’), not succumbing to outside influences, and that in this case, ‘you can trust this narrator’.  Following on from Latte’s ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’ and ‘Not That Well Defined’, the singer rejects all authoritarian advice in favour of a sincere and confident autonomy: ‘unaligned, simply fine’. Surprisingly, a German review of the Berlin concert suggests that ‘Do Things My Own Way’ can be seen as a comment on President Trump’s governing style, an interpretation which I am inclined to feel would horrify the Maels.

  The character in ‘Don’t Dog It’, the closing song on side one of the LP, however, lacks this self-confidence, seeking help from both science and religion on how to cope with life: ‘self-reliance was my game/ Shunning all advisors/ Still I felt my life’s in vain/ Sought out those much wiser’. However, from a holy man and a ‘philosophic Prof’, he receives only the enigmatic advice: ‘don’t dog it’, (an expression which I interpret as meaning ‘don’t drag your feet and get on with it’) and ‘shake it thusly and you’ll see the light’. This confirms the sentiment in the opening song ‘My advice, no advice’, a favourite line for Russell who said that, during production, he briefly silenced the music to highlight it.  In fact, the narrator here seems to take the advice as he feels more in control and ‘I no longer dog it’.

A very specific way of forging your own destiny comes in another song released as a single ‘Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab’, a satire of the speaker’s attempt to impress a potential partner with a celebrity lifestyle. His pose is as false as the fake identity of the guy in ‘Suburban Homeboy’, as he lacks the necessary to support his extravagance, and ends up in prison for debt, still unrepentant ‘Worth it all’. This song contains one of Ron’s particularly memorable rhymes ‘ Fromage, living large’ and is a humorous portrait of a wannabe celebrity/influencer which reveals society’s addiction in an age of rampant social media to fame, material things and their supposed status as indicators of human worth. It has been suggested that this was inspired by the notorious case of Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), a wannabe socialite and con artist who, masquerading as an heiress, forged multiple financial documents to fund her lavish lifestyle in fancy hotels, and, like our narrator, ended up in Rikers, also seemingly unrepentant in her courtship of the media.

We are back in familiar Sparks’ territory with ‘In Daylight’, which contrasts the cheerful melody of the chorus, ‘everybody looks great at night’ with the speaker’s insecurity about his looks. Reminiscent of many Sparks’ male characters who find difficulties in establishing relationships, and particularly of  FFS’s ‘Johnny Delusional’, who memorably described himself as ‘borderline attractive from afar’, this guy fears ‘daylight reveals me’. A similarly typical Sparks’ frustrated and suffering male and an apparently heartless and enigmatic female appear in ‘JanSport Backpack’, in which the woman’s backpack becomes, as Ron stated in the Variety interview, ‘a metaphor for just turning your back on a relationship’, inspired by noticing how many young women in Japan were wearing backpacks as a fashion statement. This illustrates once again how Sparks’ songs use an emphasis on detail to create common situations in a fresh way.   However, as in most Sparks’ songs, there are layers of unanswered questions: is the woman being secretive or is he being jealous and suspicious?  Underlying the relationship is a lack of communication once again - she returns every night but doesn’t say where she goes or what is in her backpack and he doesn’t ask. His line ‘why do you always treat me this way?’ harks back to the uncomprehending hurt of ‘Please, Baby, please (can’t you treat me better)’.  In contrast, the delightful ‘My Devotion To You’ has generated a number of interpretations, from the deeply personal to a general statement that everyone needs something on which to lavish their devotion. (Russell has said that they are both devoted to Sumo wrestling!)  Is it a song about Sparks’ fans, or about the relationship of the Mael brothers towards each other and Sparks? The cynical interpretation that it is about unhealthy emotional obsessions is not borne out, in my view, by the cheerful whistling and layered vocals that suggest the singer is, for once, casual and confident in this relationship.

An everyday annoyance, rather than an existential threat, appears in the minimalistic ‘A Long Red Light’, the repetitive and discordant tune full of unsettling and humorous sounds of which portrays the frustration of drivers stuck in traffic. The curt repetition of ‘Wait, wait’ highlights the obedience required of citizens, and perhaps not only in traffic. It would be fun to establish whether the length of the song actually reflects the length of time a red light can last on American roads. It contrasts nicely with the preceding song on the album, ‘I-405 Rules’, described by Sparks as ‘a love song to the city’, which compares the interstate highway, full of happy drivers, to all the exotic rivers of the world as it flows through Los Angeles. 

              The song that links both meanings of the word ‘mad’ and the themes of unhappiness and frustration most specifically with the contemporary situation in the US and beyond is ‘Hit Me, Baby’. The speaker feels in the grip of a nightmare, a thinly disguised metaphor for the reality of the times, which is ever evolving and increasingly terrifying, generating disbelief and horror. The ‘nightmare seems so real, and yet/ It’s getting weirder, getting weirder yet’.  The chorus ‘man oh man alive, where are their heads at/ Man oh man alive, how could they think that’ does not need to name names for anyone who has seen any news at all in the last months. He begs his partner to shake and hit him to wake him up (‘I gotta wake up, this cannot be true,) but nothing makes the ‘nightmare’ go away (‘I can’t believe that this is where we’re at’). The song presents various other unsuccessful methods of shutting out the sounds and images of his thoughts as the vocals wobble fearfully: unsettling music and sounds (described on the official lyrics video as ‘heavenly choir and metallic chugging’) and the ‘la la la’ of someone with their fingers desperately stuffed in their ears. But he remains ‘sweaty and filled with fear’, unable to wake up, a situation that looks unlikely to improve any time soon (‘I sense an avalanche of missed alarms’).

              The album finishes with two songs that clearly reflect a response to this situation.  ‘A Little Bit of Light Banter’, depicts a positive personal coping strategy for surviving without going mad even if you are angry mad. The couple here deal with life by ‘keeping things light’ when they go to bed, refusing to engage with the ‘heavy subjects’ that thrive in the daytime or bemoan their plight, avoiding arguments and stress by keeping their conversation to lighter and pleasant issues as a prelude to sleep. This keeps their relationship on an even keel and makes life bearable amidst the horrors of everyday. In this respect it recalls the fantasy routine of the couple in Latte’s ‘Take Me For A Ride’.  The humorous dismissal of nosey neighbours, the teasing marching motif at the end and the bouncy melody themselves suggest a resistance to depression and despair.

This is followed by ‘Lord Have Mercy’, a delicious number as anthemic as ‘All That’ from 2020’s A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, itself written at an anxious time for humanity.  The singer here is also watching his sleeping partner and is deeply moved by the song she sings in her sleep, which flows ‘so gently from her lips/ As if the world were at its end’. Whether she is really singing or he is imagining it remains intentionally unclear, adding to the unique pathos of the situation.  Her song is a prayer for the calming of fears (rendered as ‘gentle breezes’ to ‘calm angry seas’) and for rescue from the ‘prophets of fear and doom’, a subtle way of highlighting existential anxieties. Although he recognises that ‘one song means nothing in the grand scheme of things’, the narrator’s tears flow, whether because he senses her suffering, unspoken when she is awake (as in ‘Drowned In A Sea Of Tears’) or because she articulates so well what he himself feels.  This song would seem to serve as a final reflection of Sparks’ feelings without any need for specificities. There is no doubting the sincerity of their response here, and it is no wonder that this featured as the last song on the set list, before the encores, for the recent Mad! tour.

              There is, of course, fun and joy in this album, not least in its musical brilliance, but it is also extremely moving and thought provoking in the subtlest of ways. The genius of Sparks is certainly something on which we can depend to lighten and comfort our fraught days.

Penny Brown

July 2025