Jeez, was anyone NOT at Sparks last night? I don't think I've seen more musicians in a single room unless they were playing it, and the ones I didn't see, like Tony Lee, I saw comments from on Facebook. Notables included members of Vancouver bands No Fun, the Pointed Sticks, the Dishrags, China Syndrome, EddyD. & the Sex Bombs, Tankhog, Bif Naked's band, and... who knows how many others? And then there were journos like myself, at least two people who promote shows locally, and probably at least one taxi driver... It wasn't *quite* a sold out house (there were a few seats left up in the rafters with us) but it was as full as I've seen the Vogue, and man, were people enthusiastic...
...which makes sense, because it was a great show. Apparently NOT, contra Russell, their first in Vancouver, if Setlist FM is to be trusted, but their third time here, as shows are listed for 1975 and 1983. [Note: the Pointed Sticks member mentioned above, Bill Napier-Hemy, was going to gigs back then and weighs in on Russell's side - he's pretty sure last night WAS their first time; I've yet to find anyone who says otherwise, besides Setlist FM, so... dunno]. Either way, the first Vancouver show in 39 years is still pretty noteworthy, though. I mean, I was 15 in 1983; I'm 54 now. Probably a good portion of the audience wasn't even alive in 1983 - though the overall demographic seemed to be at least my age or older, so maybe a few people saw at least the 1983 show, too? (Please comment if you did!).
No opener, which was kind of welcome - who would possibly have fit, and why did we need one? Show started at 8:15 and lasted til 10-something, treating us to around two hours of Sparks, with Russell high-energy and dancing throughout and Ron taking the mike for a couple of verses here and there (and dancing during "No. 1 Song in Heaven," but I had seen video of it and, much as I love Ron, chose the moment to sneak out to the merch table, where I scored what seemed to be their last copy of Hippopotamus on CD, so good move, me!). Very smart representation of the soon-to-be-reissued Lil' Beethoven, which I gotta get - it actually was more present than either of their most recent albums, Annette (two songs) and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (three songs), with a whopping four songs on the setlist (not online as I write but it's been the same through the tour so far, which you can check on Setlist.fm if you care to; it was exactly the same as Seattle, for instance, I believe). No other album had as many songs played last night as Lil' Beethoven; A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip only had three, while some like A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing and Big Beat got no representation at all. Many albums (Propaganda, Indiscreet, Hippopotamus) got only one song each, and none of their other coming reissues were represented at all, that I noticed...
...which might poke a hole in my theory here, that they deliberately were trying to get people like me, who came late to the party, post-documentary, to buy Lil' Beethoven... If it were just a savvily Machiavellian business move, they'd have represented each of those albums, too, surely, but they didn't, so maybe it's just that they really LIKE Lil' Beethoven. And even if it was a ploy, it worked, because I now absolutely need the record with "I Married Myself" and "Suburban Homeboy" on it, neither of which I knew before beginning to prep for this show. "Suburban Homeboy" in particular was hilarious, and occupied prime space, being the first song post-encore, and "I Married Myself" briefly saw Russell singing into a hand-held mirror, which got big laughs. There was also a delightful tune off their first album - the Halfnelson one - which I think is also being reissued, but not through Sparks' current label: "Wonder Girl," also one I had never heard before beginning my show prep, and also really charming.
The most surprising album for them to have more than one song from, meantime, was Music That You Can Dance To, which got two songs (the title track and "Shopping Mall of Love"): the album seems to be pretty unheralded, and is long out of print. In honesty, I hadn't dug what I heard of it until last night, but both of those songs - especially during Ron's part in the latter - really worked well live.
It was unfortunate, given COVID, that the band was shy about meeting people - I gather they won't be signing stuff at shows, have put up a public apology about the same on their site, so I left my album covers at home - but they seemed very warm and friendly and enjoying their renaissance, which they amply deserve. Erika and I were up in the rafters, but I took a few photos anyhow.
Great night, Maels - good luck with the rest of the tour!
Jeez, that's kind of annoying and disappointing: the band had apparently asked that audience members wear a mask. Without getting into a debate about the effectiveness of masks, I didn't - and neither did most folks - because NO ONE MENTIONED THIS LAST NIGHT. They checked our passports and ID at the door and could EASILY have said, at that time, "the band has requested that people wear their masks" and I would have... but the Vogue staff didn't say a thing. No reminder emails were sent out (to me, anyhow) by Admit One with this request, either. Maybe someone stuck a sign on a door or something, but I sure didn't see it... With mask mandates having ended, and people climbing the walls to get back to normal, any sort of special request like that has to be communicated pretty explicitly and should NOT be left to the band's social media. Woulda done it, even up in the feckin' balcony. Only sour note of the night, and it comes the next day. (BTW, no one on the Sparks fan group or the official FB page has offered any compelling evidence of a 1975 or 1983 gigs, which I have mentioned in both places - still waiting, but maybe they actually did not happen...?].
ReplyDeleteIf Sparks had played in Vancouver before last night, Lester Interest would have been there, and so would I.
ReplyDeleteIt was 1874. Gardens
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