#hotei

My only photo from night 1 (May 5th) at SGC Hall Ariake. Obligatory pre-show keyboard image! RONALD.

Unfortunately it was a seated venue, but it's very lovely, and again nearly everyone stood up for the show.

And obligatory pre-show keyboard photo number TWO, from May 6th! This time with Flat Ron blocking the keyboard a little.

(This was the accursed venue they played in 2023 with pillars in the room blocking the view! Duo Music Exchange. Russell even specifically thanked all the people who had to stand behind the pillars, jshgdshkjshd)

Okay, real setlist spoilers ahead now.

I won't list every song, but I think my heart nearly exploded from my chest when I heard the intro to Sherlock Holmes. It's one of my all-time favourite Sparks songs... the vocal performance on both nights was just spectacular... I can't say how much I love Russell's voice on this song live. The melody and the vocals are just so perfect.

and Mickey Mouse! That is the closest I can get to feeling like I'm in the audience at the 80s SNL recording of the song, and I'll take it!!

And instead of Disneyland California Russell changed the line to Disneyland Tokyo once or twice, which was very cute :D

Finally, one of my favourite songs they played has got to be (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country?

It's such a dynamic song, and so amusing, and so playful, and so... fun. Is there anything more fun than jumping around and singing along to this song in a room with hundreds of other Sparks fans? For me, there is not.

(My singular photo from the performance. Row 2 with direct line of sight!)

Tomoyasu Hotei came out and played guitar with them on This Town and Whippings And Apologies both nights. He was rocking out so hard, it was so great to see him up there with one of his favourite bands, all over the stage, jamming with Russell and then with Ron, and the other band members. Ugh, it was so sweet! @adreamofroses has photos of that, with this one being my favourite.

I mentioned this next thing in a previous post, but I'll retell it so I can extend it to night 2:

To introduce Hotei, Russell told a fake little story about seeing a guitarist busking in the streets of Shinjuku and inviting him to play with them onstage at their show.

And then of course one of the biggest guitar legends in Japan walks out to uproarious applause.

And on night 2, hilariously Russell told it again, and keeping in mind that many people probably heard the story the night before as well, he added,

"Then, yesterday, AGAIN, we saw the guy, and he was in SHIBUYA... and we thought, it's such a shame he's out on the street... and the guy said he just had 1 name..."

Here is Hotei with them backstage after the show, wearing the official tour merch :')

Ron was wearing a lapel pin on the second night, and it is a Godzilla footprint :D

I want to thank one of my local Sparks friends for coming with me on night 2 so we could experience this together and squeal and flail about the band we love.

I also want to thank satokina_2 on instagram for once again giving me some of their artwork as a pin badge; I know you do this all the time but it was still unexpected!

And my biggest and most heartfelt thanks to @adreamofroses, who I was so glad to meet again on night 1 and whose lovely and unbelievably generous gifts are just... incredible. I love and cherish them all.

(I haven't managed to do a writeup of the 2025 tour yet, maybe because it was so eventful for me and I have even more to say..! But I will eventually!)

At the end of the second night, Russell assured us that they would be back, and expressed how much the show had exceeded even their high expectations. It's always so heartwarming to hear that kind of thing, especially when you in the audience felt it, too. There was such energy and love and joy in that crowd.

(He also totally spilled the beans about where the bassist and drummer would be spending their respective Japan vacations now the shows were over... privacy, Russell, what's that? XD)

Thank you to anyone who read this! I didn't say very much in detail, but I had the time of my life yet again.