SPARKS

Raoul · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject:

Best way to act

kev hook · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject:

I must admit that although Im not a fan of Mr Sommerville's by any means, it is unfair to compare his vocal abilities with those of Russell. I think we are all agreed here that Russell is unique, so there IS no competiton. Full stop. However I do believe it totally unnecessary to slag off an artist in the way some have just done to Jimmy. It is offensive and just downright rude. Some people just have to find negatives in everything

....ho hum, we're on familiar territory then arent we ? Pick on someone your own size and learn to sing yourself

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MarkRae · Groupie Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Posts: 199 Location: London

MarkRae · Groupie Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Posts: 199 Location: London

Andy Whelan · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:56 pm Post subject:

I was not quite sure what to expect of this show. I've never really been a great fan of the album, which to my mind is a bit patchy.

The undoubted highlight was Propaganda. Russell's vocals were simply amazing, considering the amount of singing he's been doing of late.

As for the comments on Jimmy Somerville, all I'll add is that I'm glad he turned up rather than Faith No More's vocalist. I skip those two tracks on the album, and with just Russell singing we effectively got something pretty close to the original versions.

All in all, a stunning gig played to an enthusiastic packed house.

Brightonian · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject:

Excellent show, though I preferred the Grat Sax night as that's such a consistent album and Plagiarism has real triumphs but some filler - is there much point to the No1 Song electronic reworking, likewise Beat The Clock and the two tracks with Faith No More?).

Live, like everyone else I especially loved Propaganda & Change (how did they replicate those!); Pulling Rabbits was so intense and the orchestral This Town great; and despite the few naysayers on these boards, I thought Jimmy Sommerville was great with Russell on No.1. Generally, what a thrill again to see Sparks with live orchestration!

Worse moments: pointless retreads of Big Brass Ring (can't believe we've had to endure it twice!) and the two tracks originally with Faith No More. They had to do them, but maybe they could have done something different with them or got someone else to guest?

But all told, an excellent evening.

sjadey · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:22 am Post subject:

In anticipation of a great show, I wore my Plagiarism pants (not that anybody would see them

). What a fantastic show! It exceeded my expectation. The sound was so clear and crisp tonight. Everything just came together perfectly.

This was the 9th concert I had attended during the run and I think it was the best performance so far. Both this and Indiscreet brought a tear to my eyes by the end! I also saw the Meltdown 04 (KMH/LilB) show and thought Plagiarism night beat it for the sheer variety of material which they had to contend with performing live, what with a string quartet, a brass section and all those vocal gymnastics. The performance of Propaganda was astounding! After hearing people singing along to the first verse, which we all know so well, most of us just gazed at Russell in stunned silence! Brilliant rendition.

Russ! Russ! Russ!

Seeing Jimmy was a great bonus. Can people stop slagging him off, please? His voice is different to Russell's and both have their merits. R&R presumably chose him for the album based on his singing ability and asked him to sing at the show for the same reason. After all, Russell could have sung it alone if he wanted. Jimmy and Russell were clearly enjoying singing together. As for Jimmy bringing in the crowds, I don't think so; he's not had a hit album or single for years, so his fan base is probably smaller than Sparks'. Few people would have known he was going to be there, before they bought their tickets. Nice to see him in the EDVI afterwards too.

The Academy was very crowded again, so I was glad of the air-conditioning, although I did overhear a few people saying it was freezing! I know a few posts have estimated the size of the crowd on various nights but the biggest estimate has been about 450 and yet the venue capacity is supposed to be 800. Can you imagine it with that many people in? You wouldn't be able to move!

I'm looking forward to Lil' Beethoven.
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MarkRae · Groupie Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Posts: 199 Location: London

Eve · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:25 am Post subject:

they opened upstairs which I'm told only happens when they hit or pass 600 sales.

This was a high and low show for me. A high because I really like the album and the rejigged songs. It was great to hear a good portion of the show downstairs, alas this was one of my worst days of this bloody cough I've had for 10 days and once the smoke machine kicked in it pretty much did me in and I had to escape to the stairs for some air (wtf is it with some people, you say 'excuse me' throw in a please and they look at you as if you're mental, I'm trying to get out not push in front of you shithead. I could have coughed in their faces, may do that next time).

Anyhow spent the rest of the night upstairs for the first time. Had to stand on chair to see.

um, how can you recreate a full orchestra with a string quintet? You can't so clearly some backing was in play. They ladies seemed to enjoy themselves.

Jimmys voice -Some folks like it some folks don't. I'm not getting in a tizz over it.

Propaganda was sooo good, they all were working hard on that one and it paid off.

MarkRae · Groupie Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Posts: 199 Location: London

sean's sparks thing · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:51 am Post subject: Plagiarism

Words cannot express...the feeling I suggest...

Eve · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:44 am Post subject: Re: Plagiarism

unprinted · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:18 am Post subject:

Eve · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:59 am Post subject:

confusion - are you saying IYO there was backing or no backing?

kev hook · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject:

I believe Ron was beefing up the strings with some orchestral keyboard samples. But not having been there.........

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"Nothing of a liquid nature's gonna mess with me...."

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themightybishop · Certified Fan Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 73

and the last word goes to steve nistor:

"The pinnacle of the show was Jimmy Somerville's appearance on a symphonic/disco version of "No. 1 Song in Heaven." He stole the show! I'd never seen him before but this 5 foot 6 inch Scottish man shows up and sings the most amazing falsetto I've ever, ever heard. Anyone who claims to be a fan of Antony and the Johnsons needs to check out Jimmy doing it 20 years before Ant did.

A really kind and gentle man who managed to get the crowd worked up and sing his ass off at the same time. He got down on his knees and sang the "Written of course, by the mightiest hand..." line directly to Ron and Russell.

After the show Jimmy told me my drumming on "Beat the Clock" made him feel like he was 18 again. I'm going to have to compile a list of "Unbelievably Flattering Compliments." "

LightsOut · Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject:

Words cannot express, for me, just how good this gig was....The atmosphere was electric....The band were stunningly superb.....I and many, many others were speechless afterwards, such was the wonderfulness of it all......An orchestral brain blast.....Is the only way I can describe this wonderful night.....And as if that wasn't enough, the encore song, blew me away.....Still not recovered from that wondrous night......In a world of madness, Sparks shine like stars in a cloudless sky........
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SparksMarie · Groupie Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 204 Location: Denmark

I just read an interview with Erasure's Vince Clarke. Apparently they weren't asked to come perform Amateur Hour at the Plagiarism concert. Well, here's what he says

John: Right. I'm a big Sparks fan as well, you probably know they are doing there 21 albums in 21 nights. Did you know about this?

Vince: No, tell me?!

John: Well you've answered by next question. Well they are doing all of their 21 albums from their career in 21 nights so that they're performing the whole album all the way through, and then the next day it's the next album and so on. Does that idea appeal to you?

Vince: No!

John: Too much work! They've had to learn 256 songs I believe for the tour

Vince: I still look at chord sheets now, so I don't suppose that's going to happen with us.

John: The reason why I was going to ask you that they did do the Plagiarism album which you did the 'Amateur Hour' remix for, and they kind of pulled a few musicians together, I thought you might have had a call to see if you would turn out for that!

Vince: No!

John: You were in Manchester for Yazoo though

Vince: No, I didn't have the call - but who knows!

John: Interesting! Well good luck for the future and enjoy tonight! Thanks Vince.
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De Sade · Certified Fan Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 61

Ok so 1st, stunning show to be at, breathtaking, but I do love the album, not sure why some dislike it, yes some improve on the original (angst) and some are interesting reworkings (Change & Amateur) which you take or leave according to individual taste. 2nd, minor quible agreeing with a previous post, the faith no more 'less' songs could have used something else to differentiate them form the other versions, yes they rocked more but an additional vocalist, even a backing singer type, would have helped the mood. Lastly to return to the JS subject, I am a classically trained singer by profession and to compare Jimmy with Russ is stupid, just because they both use falsetto doesn't mean they are in competition - you wouldn't compare George Michael with Kurt Cobain even though their range is/was probably very similar. Jimmy has a beautiful lyrical & effortlessly 'feminine' voice whereas Russ is far more energetic and stacatto in his delivery. I loved that 5 minutes when they were together, although I normally wouldn't consider myself a fan of Jimmy's music at all, it was a beautiful tribute to Sparks for him to be there and to be so charming and sweet in the way he sang and clearly admired R & R
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