Dateline – AUSTIN
Moody Theater
July 13, 2023
Russell Mael, lead singer of the venerable pop duo Sparks, took the stage in Austin clad in a snazzy black-and-red dress shirt with a red pocket square and matching black-and-red shoes. “So may we start?” he asked politely.
“Yes, Russell, you may,” I thought to myself. For the next hour and a half, I and over 2,000 others at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater were treated to the distinctive pop sounds of Sparks. No one else sounds like them – they’re synthy, glammy, arty, and funny, but definitely not a parody act. Sparks just sound like Sparks.
They are also quite likely the longest-running pop act that’s never had a Billboard Top 40 hit. They’re often thought to be British (maybe it’s their satirical and quirky lyrics), but Russell and his older brother Ron, the bespectacled, mustachioed keyboardist, hail from Southern California.
“So May We Start” served as a perfect opener, followed by the industrial sounds of “The Girl is Crying in Her Latte,” the title track from their new album. The set continued with “Angst in My Pants,” angular guitar riffs accenting Ron’s steady rhythmic playing. I noted that Ron’s Roland keyboard’s badging was altered to read “Ronald” instead.
The sound and mix were superb, and the lighting dazzled. The flamboyant Russell and poker-faced Ron were out front, with a four-piece backing band – two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer – on an elevated stage behind them. The band were dressed in solid black like puppeteers.
After several songs, Russell acknowledged the rapt audience, saying “From the looks of it, this is going to surpass anything we’ve done here.” Russell sounded and acted much younger than his 74 years. He skipped around the stage, hopping up and down, all while maintaining his trademark falsetto.
“When I’m With You” sounded even better stripped of its ‘80s studio sheen. “I never have a problem when I’m with you/I’m really well-adjusted when I’m with yooou, with yoooou, with yooooou.”
When introducing “Nothing Is as Good as They Say It Is,” Russell shared that it was “written from the perspective of a 22-hour-year-old child who had seen enough.” He later explained that “We Go Dancing,” one of five songs played from the new album, “was if Kim Jong Un, the famous dictator, became a DJ in his country.”
A highlight was the thumping electro-rock of “Balls.” It’s an inspirational song about chasing your dreams (or perhaps it’s about male privilege). “Balls! All you need are balls! To succeed are balls!”
For “Shopping Mall of Love,” Ron performed a funny spoken-word bit.
“We made love,” Ron deadpanned. “We made love all the time.”
“She makes me laugh.” Then he laughed, breaking his scowl.
During “Music That You Can Dance To,” an older man was so moved by the oscillating rhythm that he ran down the aisle toward the stage. He was promptly escorted out by security.
As the epic electro opening of “The Number One Song in Heaven” began, a single blue spotlight pivoted to Ron. During one of the synth breaks, Ron got up and danced, swinging his arms and shuffling his feet back and forth with a manic grin on his face – totally out of character and hilarious.
More rock-oriented than the Giorgio Moroder-produced studio version, “The Number One Song in Heaven” was capped by furious guitar shredding over the pulsating synth. Sparks immediately launched into their beloved 1974 single “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us,” and the energy reached a fever pitch.
After Russell finished belting out the final high notes, the band left the stage, leaving just the two brothers to perform “Gee, That Was Fun.”
“Gee, that was grand,” Russell sang over Ron’s keys. “Letting me be in your plans.”
The lyrics took a playful crack at the audience: “If I’d have been less on my phone, I’d have been more in the zone, if I had known.”
Sparks is big on repetition; nearly every song has its title repeated in the chorus. Their encore opened with “My Baby’s Taking Me Home,” which takes repetition to the extreme as it’s the only lyric in the entire song.
Sparks closed with “All That,” a cut from their 2020 LP A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, which encapsulates the band’s ups and downs over the decades. “All that we’ve done/We’ve lost, we’ve won.” It was a fitting close to a set that spanned the 26 albums of their 50+ year career.
Keep up with the Sparks brothers on allsparks.com
