Sparks Spectacular: Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat (1984)

Published on July 30th, 2008 in: Concert Reviews, Issues, Music, Reviews, Sparks Spectacular |

By Janina

This isn’t my favorite album; I had to think twice about booking to see it because in my view it contained too many soppy songs (although maybe not as many as Interior Design). But on the strength of the Introducing show I went along on the Sunday and never regretted it.

I preferred the Islington Academy to larger places: it was great feeling part of a community, especially for a slightly more obscure album—here the venue was only around half-full. There was possibly some corporate hospitality going on, with dressed-up women in heels being ushered past the ropes and later to the front of the stage—they didn’t seem to fit with the middle-aged, hefty Sparks fans already standing there.

The music pounded out for Pulling Rabbits and Russell came on stage. I found the title track very atmospheric, even though Russell’s pitch is less suited to singing “deep and brooding” stuff. There seemed to be more going on in terms of lighting in this show—a lot of dramatic colors flashing up suddenly and then off again during the lines “applause, applause, applause.”

I so rarely play most of the tracks I’d forgotten what was on the album, so it was fun not knowing what came next—a case of beat the intro. I actually enjoyed “Love Scenes”—it’s a gentle verse but there’s a bit in the chorus where Ron’s synth goes “crash crash,” so that, combined with Steve Nistor’s drums, really made an impression. Or perhaps I just don’t play it loud enough normally. “Pretending To Be Drunk” seemed to be a favorite with the audience; it’s a cheerful bouncy number, although Russ slightly messed up the lyrics at one point.

“Progress” seemed to be a hit—very punchy. The audience, mainly men, sang along, of course. “With All My Might” was another low-key number, but probably suitable for a small audience. I think “Sparks in the Dark,” short version, segued straight into the next track as per the album, but can’t now remember. “Everybody Move” is one of the best on the album for me. The song “Sisters,” about a threesome, also proved popular, with hands being waved in the air. I actually think there is an underlying air of melancholy about a lot of the lyrics on this album.

Russell commented on the encore playlist for the forthcoming final gig, giving away that Introducing‘s “Goofing Off” was going to be one of the numbers; he also mentioned “A Song that Sings Itself.” (In the end the latter proved not to be the case.)

As there was plenty of room, I danced about to the long version of “Sparks in the Dark.” Russell mentioned it’s one of their rare instrumentals and he only hovered around the stage for a while. Again, it was a case of following strict album order that made the concert perhaps take a little downturn as the whole “team” wasn’t involved.

When they all returned on stage, the encore song was given away by Ron, said Russell. Big brother grinned and insisted he’d just been checking his keyboard but the Psycho knifing sounds had come out, so those in the know guessed that “National Crime Awareness Week” was coming up.

Another really enjoyable gig and a privilege to be part of something this special. It’s also great to be reintroduced to music you’ve had for ages but neglected. It’s not a classic, but either way, I’m now playing the Rabbits CD regularly in my car.

By Musicalsushi

I’ve always felt a bit sorry for Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat. Released in 1984, and containing songs such as “Progress” and “Everybody Move,” it never really stood a chance of aging well. All the same, there are some decent songs on there, crushed under the weight of dodgy mid-eighties production. I can never decide whether this is my favorite bad Sparks album or my least favorite good Sparks album. It marks the turning point between Sparks’ popular early-eighties work and their. . . uh. . . less appreciated late-eighties albums—but it’s not obvious on which side of the line Rabbits lies. A nineties re-recording gave the title track a new lease of life—this violin-driven version sounded less tired and much more distinctive than the song’s original synth-smothered form. Throughout the first half of Sparks’ 2008 tour, I was impatient to find out whether a modern performance of the full album could rescue the rest of the songs.

The night of the show arrives, and I arrive at 7:30 to catch the support act—tonight, it’s the Young Knives, who missed their earlier slot supporting A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing. They play a good set, but the audience haven’t really warmed up yet. By virtue of moving my head and torso to the spiky beats, I’m one of the more enthusiastic dancers.

Between the two sets, I mingle with other fans and chat about their expectations for tonight’s show. Although many faces are familiar to me from previous nights, there are also many people who’ve only recently started attending the tour. One of the die-hards tells me this is his favorite Sparks album. Others are more circumspect, but nonetheless enthusiastic about the show. Many fans are eagerly anticipating the live rendition of “A Song That Sings Itself,” which I doubt has ever been performed live in the UK.

By the time Sparks take the stage, just over 140 fans have turned up (when I ask the manager about attendance figures a couple of shows later, he seems fairly certain that this night had the lowest attendance of the tour). En route to his keyboard, Ron peers at the album cover projected behind the stage—he is wearing the same clothes tonight. Russell is dressed in a silver pinstripe suit and pink tie. Steve Nistor counts in for the title track, and it sounds amazing from the start: I know already that the rest of the album is going to sound fantastic live.

Russell virtually acts out the words of the chorus, shouting, “APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!” with passion but then clapping politely and reservedly to the audience; I like this. By the end of the song, the audience have livened up, unable to resist the pounding synth and guitars. They immediately dance and sway when the next song, “Love Scenes,” begins. Russell flexes his arm to punctuate every synth blast in the choruses, and who’d have thought eighties-style synths could sound this good?

After “Love Scenes,” Russell finally welcomes us to the show, although he’s not sure how far into the tour they are at this point—hardly surprising, as he’s already played through 12 shows. Some nice, cool beers appear on the background screen as the intro to “Pretending To Be Drunk” starts to play. As the percussion kicks in, the audience begins to pogo. The dancing continues during the next song, “Progress.” Russell sings the anachronistic lyric “you’re so fun, so alive, you’re so 1985” without altering the year, and it describes the song pretty well—it’s clearly a product of the eighties but we’re having great fun dancing to it.

Someone shouts, “Brilliant!” after the applause for “Progress” has died down, but the whole audience cheers when Ron starts to play “With All My Might.” Despite the slower pace, the audience is still dancing, and it sounds sublime. The bridge solo places more emphasis on the guitar than the synth, unlike the LP, which is good, but unfortunately the backing vocals during the choruses can’t really be heard over the instruments. The pace picks up again with “Everybody Move” and the audience resumes bouncing up and down, while Russell tries to catch us out by getting us to sing along—of course, as the gig is populated almost entirely with die-hard Sparks fans, no one drops “Everybody move!” in the wrong place as he’s hoping. We cheer like mad when the song finishes, having had a fantastic time, but the highlight of the show is just about to begin.

“A Song That Sings Itself” is a huge fan favorite, and it’s likely that this song was responsible for many people deciding to come to this show. One fan films it in its entirety—you can probably find the recording on YouTube. Nistor’s percussion gives the song a real boost, and Russell’s singing is right on form, although it feels strange to hear the chorus without the faux-harmony used on the LP. Russell encourages us to clap along during the bridge, which starts off as synth chords but becomes a guitar solo. As the song draws to a close, most of the audience are swaying and clapping along. The atmosphere is enhanced further by pellets of bright, primary-colored light drifting down the screen behind the stage—yet more eighties style, but perfect for the song. The audience are rapturous when it finishes, and Russell takes this opportunity to remind us that we can vote for songs we want to be played in the final set of the tour, but points out that he and Ron might well “stuff the ballot box” in favor of this one. “We’re allowed to cheat; it’s our band.” Sadly, it later turns out that this song doesn’t get selected for the final set—a real shame, as the live rendition in this show was excellent.

The next song is “Sisters.” I’m impressed that Russell still manages to hit the falsetto notes in the bridge. He also sings the chorus to the next song, “Kiss Me Quick,” in falsetto—you may also be able to catch this one on YouTube. When the applause dies down, Russell triumphantly announces, “Ha, my night’s over!” The final song is an instrumental, “Sparks In The Dark.” The audience claps along enthusiastically during this synth-driven piece, which is augmented with extra guitar during the second verse. Russell dances near his brother’s keyboards, and at one point Ron turns to glare theatrically at him. Visual jokes centering on Ron’s stern demeanor have been a mainstay of the tour.

To enthusiastic applause, the band returns for an encore after the main set, and Russell asks us to thank each of the band members: Steve Nistor, Jim Wilson, Marcus Blake, and Ron Mael, whom he ironically describes as “sort of weak on lyrics but his instrumentals are fantastically composed.” Unfortunately, Ron disgraces himself by jumping the gun with the encore song—we hear a couple of chords from the Psycho theme, and people cheer as they realise the band are going to play the awesome “National Crime Awareness Week.” “I was just testing!” he protests, and Russell tells us that “we have a lot of songs with Psycho shower scene intros. We’re not going to do the obvious one.” Needless to say though, they go ahead and play it, and it’s as fun as it always is—throughout my tenure as a Sparks fan (which only started in the 21st century, sadly), this song has been a staple of their live sets. As such, it’s not a unique treat like some of the other encores, but it’s impossible not to enjoy a live performance of this song, and I’m delighted that it’s been chosen to end such a great concert, even if Ron did let the cat out of the bag. Russell has his revenge during the bridge, making stabbing motions at Ron with his mic, in time with the Psycho theme that Ron’s playing. Everyone has a great time dancing to the song, and the cheers and applause last so long that the Mael brothers can hardly leave the stage. We’re told to look forward to the next show, although they can’t remember which album they’ll be playing.

Sparks did a superb job of this show, updating the songs and emphasizing the guitar and bass for the live concert, but retaining the fun, cheesy parts of their eighties sound. I’m not the only person to be impressed; a Canadian tourist, visiting London for three days, approaches me after the show to chat about the music, and tells me that he’d never heard of Sparks until tonight but had read about the tour and decided to come to the gig on a whim. He liked it so much that it was hardly any effort for me to persuade him to buy Kimono My House on his way out. It’s official: this gig was good enough to convert Sparks virgins into new fans!