[Post contains Sparks setlist spoilers]
Okay! It's 1:48 AM (2:53 AM now that I'm done writing this, oops), and I should really be asleep, but after spending a few days in London (without a smartphone and without a laptop), I finally have the chance to write an entry about what my first Sparks concert was like. Mostly so I can read it back later, but also to share the excitement with the rest of the Sparks fandom.
From Thursday through Monday, I stayed with an acquaintance (well, a new friend!), who lives just outside London. On Friday, we went to see Sparks at the Chelsea Hospital Grounds. When we arrived, I was so impressed by the venue. It looked like a palace garden! When we headed toward the stage to see where our seats were, I couldn't believe our luck: we'd been randomly upgraded to the third row! We were sooo close to the stage!
This concert had been advertised with "special guests." We'd already been speculating about who they might be and had set the bar way too high by hoping for Damon Albarn. As it turned out, the special guests were the Chelsea Pensioners, a senior citizens' choir! Fortunately, I have a big soft spot for seniors (as you're all well aware) (haha) (I'll make the joke before anyone else does :p), and these sweethearts had even learned two Sparks songs for the occasion: So May We Start and A Little Bit of Light Banter. They were absolutely precious, and I really enjoyed their performance and minimalist dance moves. Too cute! (They reminded me of the seniors from Young@Heart, a documentary about a choir of elderly people singing rock songs. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it!)
About half an hour after the pensioners finished, Sparks came on. It felt surreal seeing Ron walk onstage. And when Russell appeared after him, all I could think was: "Wow. He's even more charming in person." I have to admit that I basically watched the concert in full Russell fancam mode. I couldn't take my eyes off him.
Before the concert started, I asked my friend, "Do you think people are going to stand up from their seats during the show? Nobody wants to block the view of the person behind them." But as soon as the first piano notes of So May We Start rang out, literally EVERYONE stood up, and EVERYONE stayed standing until the very end. The positive energy in the crowd was there immediately.
A few months ago, I made a little setlist wishlist. I have to say, not many of those songs were played. Unfortunately, they didn't play anything from Hippopotamus or Lil' Beethoven, and only one song each from Hello Young Lovers and Propaganda. (Those are my four favorite albums.) Despite the large MAD! selection, the setlist actually had a huge '80s vibe.
The first two songs however, were on my wishlist: So May We Start and Do Things My Own Way. Reinforcements, the third one, really got the crowd going, which made the melancholy opening of Sherlock Holmes hit me completely out of nowhere. I expected I might get emotional during the concert, but I definitely didn't expect it to be due to this song! Loved every second of it. Fortunately, I managed to dry my eyes quickly afterwards thanks to Beat the Clock. Though then it was Sparks' turn to cry: the band's in-ear monitors stopped working, and everyone stopped playing. Russell was kind of a trooper for trying to carry on. The lights also went out, and the time had to be filled with some literal "light banter" from Russell.
Ron decided to sit down on the edge of the stage, in a waiting position with his head resting on his hand. When he tried to stand up again, he lost his balance and took a tumble. Luckily, one of the band members helped him up, because Russell was just chatting away on the other side of the stage and hadn't noticed what happened. Once Ron was back on his feet, he struck a victory pose with both fists in the air, which naturally earned a round of applause. When everything was fixed, they started Beat the Clock over from the beginning.
Next came Mickey Mouse, another one of my favorites from this setlist! Then Running Up a Tab slowed things down a bit. After that, we were treated to Ron in the spotlight during Let's Get Funky. The little side-step he did with Russell was a top-tier brother moment. <3
The next song was Porcupine. Great choice, BUT... Eli's guitar was out of tune. Every time he hit a chord, I cringed. Sorry! I wonder if other people noticed? It really didn't sound good. He partially made up for it with his fierce dance moves, though.
Okay, now for the one song I didn't recognize at all: A Walk Down Memory Lane! I listen to Interior Design every now and then, but I must admit, those aren't songs I actively put on. Still, I thought it was a fun addition!
After JanSport Backpack came all the hits: Music That You Can Dance To, "My Way," No. 1 Song, and This Town. By then, it had gotten dark outside, which was perfect timing for those bangers. Lots of dancing. :)
Whippings and Apologies was, surprisingly, one of the highlights of the show for me. It's normally not one of my favorites, but they absolutely rocked it live!!
The final song before the encore was My Devotion, which is simply a gem from MAD!. <3
The encore consisted of Can I Invade Your Country?, Latte, and All That. And I can tell you there was a very interesting sensation going through my body when Russell sang "Can I invade your country?" in my direction with that little smile on his face. Sorry. It is what it is. (HAHA)
The very last song was All That, and right at the end, the sound cut out again. This time, though, the in-ear monitors seemed to keep working, because the band carried on playing. At first it seemed intentional, like some sort of fade-out, and the audience just kept singing along. But later, Russell tried to say a few things and seemed not to realize for quite a while that we couldn't hear him.
So when they eventually waved goodbye and used lots of gestures such as blowing kisses to show how grateful they were, I got the impression, at least from Russell, that he wasn't particularly happy about having to leave the stage without being able to speak to the audience. They also lingered for quite a while before finally walking off.
All in all, it was an amazing but also somewhat chaotic concert. Then again, that's probably part of what made it so memorable.
I wonder how my pictures and few short videos turned out. Wanted to be in the moment, so didn't capture a lot. My friend also took some photos, she'll mail them tomorrow I think. Will post the best later. :)
