Sparks Spectacular: Terminal Jive
Posted in Concert Reviews, Music, Reviews, Sparks Spectacular |By Miss Missy Tannenbaum
This album was a follow up to the excellent No 1 In Heaven, but it has not been the most popular album among fans, something that the small crowd of about 150 people proved.
Photo © Daniel Gray @Dead By Sunrise
Knowing that the Mael Bros weren’t happy with the album, I was a bit unsure if some of the missing synth sounds were intentional or not. The band seemed to give the album a more rock sound approach.
On the night’s first song, “When I’m With You,” there were volume problems with the synth but it was quickly boosted. Unfortunately, there were a lot of disco elements from the synths that were either too low or left out of the mix, something that was also apparent in the performance of “Rock ‘n’ Roll People In A Disco World.” However, Russell’s vocals were prominent and clear through all the songs and the backing vocals were a joy to hear.
As Russell pointed out, Word Magazine had written that “Young Girls” was an inappropriate song, but having expected an awkward moment myself, I must say this was a good sing along for the audience and the creepy edge was taken away from it.
There were some speculations about the possibility that the instrumental version of “When I’m With You” would be left out. I was actually surprised when it was played, but finally the synth was done justice with a loud, clear, crisp sound.
The highlights of this set were “In Stereo,” “Young Girls,” and “Noisy Boys.” All had rich sounds and interesting electronic elements added to the vocal performances. The evening’s last song before the encore, “She’s The Greatest Show On Earth,” made the audience clap through the whole tune and Jim Wilson’s guitar (together with Steven Nistor’s drums) rounded off a great ending to the show. The extra song, “Singing In The Shower,” seemed to be the big audience favorite. It was a nice homage to Les Rita Mitsouko and especially to the late Fred Chichin.
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