Sparks at Hammersmith Apollo, Thursday June 19th 2025

I’m back at the beautiful Art Deco Hammersmith (Odeon) Apollo, the scene of my very first gig back in 1981, to see the second night of two London gigs from Sparks whose incredible renaissance shows no sign of letting up. I’d seen the set-list in advance, and I must confess to being a bit underwhelmed at first glance. Personally, I would only have chosen around half of the songs, but then again, the perfect set-list would be nigh-on impossible considering the band released their first album in 1971 and well over 50 years later, have just unleashed the superb “Mad!” to a receptive public. I think “Mad!” might well be their 29th album if include the movie/musical soundtracks and FFS collaboration with Franz Ferdinand, not including the numerous compilations. So, back to the set-list, which is heavy on the high energy dancefloor smashes of the late 70’s-80’s  including “Beat The Clock”, and “The Number One Song In Heaven” (complete with Ron’s now trademark dance-moves) and the surprise inclusion of “Academy Award Performance” all from the Giorgio Moroder produced “Number 1 In Heaven”. 

Then there’s the 1990’s Electronica of “Music That You Can Dance To” and “When Do I Get To Sing My Way?” which ramp up the party atmosphere to the maximum. Sadly, the 70’s are not so well represented but we do get a storming “Reinforcements” from “Propaganda” and a curveball in “Goofing Off” from 1977’s “Introducing Sparks”. But then again, Sparks are not merely a nostalgia act and there is so much excellent new material to consider. Having said that, of course they can’t skip the classic “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us” – which was the entry point for many of us Brits into the crazy world of Sparks. Seeing the classic Top Of The Pops performance on the Thursday evening and then the next day at school, the playground was buzzing with excited chatter - “hey, did you see that scary guy who looked like Hitler last night?”. Later you discover that this was repeated across pretty much every school yard from Land’s End to John O’Groats. However, the big surprise of the night was the inclusion of “Whippings And Apologies” from their second album, 1973’s “A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing” which tonight was a snarling Glam-Punk classic. 

The campfire singalong of “Suburban Homeboy” with Ron on deadpan lead vocals from “Lil’ Beethoven” was another delight. This was probably the album that relaunched Sparks career in 2002 and put them on the trajectory that now sees them playing in packed out venues to adoring audiences all over the world. The following four albums are skipped over, probably because they have previously toured them in their own right, but a real highlight is the emotional “Please Don’t Fuck Up My World” from “Steady Drip, Drip, Drip”, which Russell tells us, is probably more relevant than ever. Of course, they play plenty of “Mad!” and “Do Things My Own Way”, “Drowned In a Sea of Tears” and “Jansport Backpack” all sound marvellous played live. Unfortunately, there’s no “My Devotion” which I think is one of the most beautiful songs Sparks have written in ages, but like I said at the beginning, you can’t have everything. The band that Ron and Russell have assembled are absolutely superb, managing the complexity of the song-writing and the often bewildering variety in musical styles perfectly. The sound and lighting are stunning throughout and the audience reaction is phenomenal, quite a few times there is a rapturous standing ovation at the end of a song. So much so that they have to put the house lights up and the band just have to pause to just let the acclaim wash over them before they can start the next number. 

They encore with “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” and a rousing “All That” which sees the crowd singing along and waving their arms in unison and there’s a surprise when “Sparks Brothers” documentary director Edgar Wright appears on stage to take a photo of Ron and Russell in front of the crowd. Off the top of my head, of their generation I can only think of the 78 year-old Iggy Pop, who’s also out on tour at the moment, who can compare with Sparks full-on physically energetic live performance. Considering their ages, Ron is 79 and Russell 76, they could have been forgiven for continuing down the more restrained “Two Hands, One Mouth” route but no, Russell has not lost any of his incredible vocal range and instead they continue to tour with a vibrant excellent young band, performing shows bursting with colourful life-affirming energy. Maybe one day they will have to slow down a bit, but at the moment it’s only Ron’s dance routine that’s getting slightly shorter. So, for now, if you get the opportunity, make sure you enjoy the full on Sparks extravaganza while you can. Tonight, might well rank up there as one of the best shows I’ve seen from the band and despite my initial misgivings about the set-list, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

You can still check out our feature on Sparks "Two Hands, One Mouth" show from 2012 at London's Barbican Centre here. Don't forget our two thoroughly entertaining episodes of Retrosonic Podcast where original Halfnelson/Sparks drummer Harley Feinstein gives us a fascinating insight into the very early years of Sparks.

Retrosonic Podcast · Sparks: The Bearsville/Halfnelson Years Part 1 & Crash 74 with Harley Feinstein

 

Retrosonic Podcast · Sparks: The Bearsville/Halfnelson Years Part 2 with Harley Feinstein

 

John McKay's Reactor at The Face Bar Reading, Tuesday June 17th - the triumphant return of the legendary Siouxsie & The Banshees Guitarist

I was at a local Club Velocity promotions gig at the Face Bar in Reading on Tuesday night to witness the long awaited return of the legendary Siouxsie & The Banshees guitarist John McKay. The first thing that hit me was how good he looked; all dressed in black, hair slicked back into a Samurai style top knot. Similar to (the much-missed) Geordie from Killing Joke, McKay is effortlessly cool, making it look so easy when of course, we really know it's nothing of the sort. There’s a nonchalance to his playing style that belies the immense, razor sharp sound that he conjures from his equally cool black semi-acoustic Hagström guitar. I was just too young to see The Banshees play when he was in the line-up, but I’ve always loved McKay’s glacial guitar riffs – a sound that defined not only the early Banshees, but pretty much the whole Post-Punk genre. There was a palpable buzz running through the crowd as he struck the opening chords to first number “Black Five” and to hear that instantly recognisable, hugely influential sound, was a big thrill.

 

 

Earlier this year Tiny Global Productions released the beautifully packaged album “Sixes And Sevens” which features unreleased solo recordings made between 1980 and 1989. Former Banshees drummer Kenny Morris who along with McKay, jumped the Banshees ship mid-tour in 1979, features on some of these songs along with Soft Boys bassist Matthew Seligman and John’s partner Linda on vocals – sadly both Matthew and Linda passed away in 2020. Don’t be put off by the mention of ‘unreleased’ songs, as usually when record companies put out such recordings there’s a very good reason why they were unreleased in the first place. Not so with “Sixes And Sevens” as the songs and sound are excellent and it begs the question just why they were not ever released at the time. It gives a fascinating insight into what might have been after The Banshees, and the good news is that now, thanks to Tiny Global, the songs have been given a new lease of life. A few dates have been arranged to promote the album including the Reading show, a sold-out Lexington in London, the Forever Now festival in Milton Keynes on June 22^nd, The 100 Club on June 23^rd and the Hare & Hounds Birmingham on July 19th.

John has assembled a superb band around him, John McKay’s Reactor, and it is very much a band rather than just a solo project. One of Retro Man Blog’s favourites Jen Brown from The Priscillas is on lead vocals, a perfect choice, it’s a role she just had to play, and she looks fabulous next to John. It must have been a rather daunting task as comparisons with Siouxsie are bound to be raised, but Jen is superb, balancing her individual style while keeping a deference to Siouxsie's vocal delivery. Billy King is on bass and like Jen, looks every inch the epitome of Rock ‘n’ Roll, very cool. He also rather impressively keeps his leather biker jacket on for the duration of the whole show despite the soaring temperatures. Drummer Jola is a busy, blur of energy, managing the sometimes unusual tom-heavy tribal beats with real skill, she’s great to watch in her own right. The set list is perfectly balanced between tracks from “Sixes And Sevens” and Banshees classics, and the good thing is there’s a seamless transition between the two, that’s testament to the strength of the solo material, I guess. 

 

The set ends with “Hong Kong Garden” and there’s an encore of “Playground Twist” which both take the roof of the Face Bar. We also get treated to Banshees classics from the first two albums including “The Staircase (Mystery)”, “Placebo”, “Mirage”, “Suburban Release” and “Switch”. Of the ‘new’ songs “Taken For Granted” with its rumbling JJ Burnel style bass intro and “Vigilante” are personal highlights and I’m left hoping that this new line-up can find the time to write some brand new material in the near future. Check out the band’s Facebook page here and Instagram pages for news on the upcoming shows and Tiny Global on how to order “Sixes And Sevens” which is out on CD, download and limited edition vinyl which includes a signed booklet and bonus CD. For more videos from the show please subscribe to the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.