Sparks Spectacular: Kimono My House (1974)

By Noisy Boy

More reports from the (literal) front line! This was absolutely brilliant, and as much an improvement in every respect (including the sound, which even down the front was superb) as the second night was from the first. Unsurprising perhaps, given the capacity crowd (who grew impatient during the DJ’s protracted set, booing and chanting for him to get off, at least until he dropped a remix of “Good Morning” as his final song) and the widely-known material, but still wonderful to see the enthusiasm that Ron and Russell put into material they must be sick of playing, especially “This Town” and “Amateur Hour,” which both were met with rapturous applause.

What’s more, Ron had even changed his moustache to the classic “Hitler” look, and save for the odd extra line, didn’t look 34 years older than the fellow on the rear sleeve of Kimono My House! While Russell didn’t quite go for the full afro look (shame!), his voice was in fine fettle, and again if you closed your eyes, you could believe that only days had passed rather than years.

Once they launched into “Falling In Love With Myself Again,” it was obvious that the enthusiasm was uniform for all the songs, as was the high level of playing, most notably Russell’s continued absence of any sort of prompt sheet or reminders, and Jim Wilson’s note-for-note rendition of Adrian Fisher’s fine fretwork. What was also noticeable was the Marcus Blake had much more of a role, and occasionally their dual lead playing was a spectacle to behold. Not to dismiss the contributions of the rhythm section—both bassist Steven McDonald and drummer Steven Nistor play the material as if they’ve been playing it for years. The call-and-response between guitar and bass in “Falling In Love With Myself Again” drew much applause and rightly so.

The energy reached fever pitch during the clap-along intro to “Talent Is An Asset” (again, flawless) and continued during “Complaints,” and into “In My Family.” The abiding image of the evening for me was Russell stood behind Ron, leading the crowd in a clap-along while Ron looked his usual deadpan self. Brilliant.

The only real clunker of the night was “Equator.” I’ve a feeling that all the musicians messed this up at some point or another, and Russell’s vocals dipped a bit during the really high parts, but all was made up for with the final vocal which slowly faded out, the audience leading the response with help from Jim and Marcus. I wasn’t at the Kimono/Lil’ Beethoven show for Morrissey’s Meltdown, but I imagine that the starry-eyed reverence that attendees talk about when they mention the end of “Equator” could apply here, too.

Cue more rapturous applause, and the first bow, but a second clunker—this time Steve’s beautiful Rickenbacker 401 took an off-balance dive straight onto the floor, causing him to miss the bow and look extremely distraught (and rightly so since they’re not cheap). When they came back out for the encore, a quick fix took place while Russell retold his story of rubbish hairspray. But once they powered into “Barbecutie” it was a delight—I’d previously asked Ron and Russell to play this song when they did the Hello Young Lovers show in London, and they politely declined, but now I was able to see it, and rock it did. Russell mentioned it was a “contender” for the final show setlist, so if they do it again, I’ll be twice as happy!

Also:

Please check out Mike Bennett’s review at Hablo Ennui.