Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany1st July 2025
Sparks - “Mad Tour 2025”
The two brothers Ron and Russell Mael founded the band SPARKS in the 70s. Despite their musical diversity, from Glam Rock to the Synth sound of the 80s to today’s Electro sound with dynamic beats, the SPARKS have retained their own unmistakable sound. As more visitors than planned wanted to see the SPARKS, the venue was moved from Cologne's Club Gloria to the Live Music Hall, also located in Cologne. There, the SPARKS presented their sixteenth album Mad! https://allsparks.com / https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial
Music & Performance
As it was very warm that day, the hall filled up very slowly evening and you had the feeling that only very few people would come to this concert. But despite the sweat running down your face, the hall was packed when the band took to the stage. When Ron Mael sat down almost inconspicuously behind his keyboard and his brother Russell literally stormed onto the stage, the fans in the hall cheered.
The concert kicked off with the song ‘So May We Start’ from 2021, with Russell dancing across the stage in his colourful spotted suit. This was followed by ‘Do Things My Own Way’, the first song from the new album ‘Mad!’. The two brothers also played ‘Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab’, ‘JanSport Backpack’ and ‘Lord Have Mercy’ from this album. They performed songs from almost every decade of their decades-long career, including ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’, ‘When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’’ and ‘The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte’.
While Russell took over all the vocal parts, Ron sat quietly and almost without facial expressions behind his keyboard. Only once did Ron come to the centre of the stage and, surrounded by spotlights, took over the vocals for the song ‘Suburban Homeboy’. Despite the great heat in the hall, the SPARKS showed how agile they can still perform live and how their music appeals to fans of all ages.
Setlist
01. So May We Start
02. Do Things My Own Way
03. Reinforcements
04. Academy Award Performance
05. Goofing Off
06. Beat the Clock
07. Please Don’t Fuck Up My World
08. Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab
09. Suburban Homeboy ( Ron Version )
10. Drowned in a Sea of Tears
11. JanSport Backpack
12. Music That You Can Dance To
13. When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’
14. The Number One Song in Heaven ( Ron Intro )
15. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
16. Whippings and Apologies
17. Lord Have Mercy
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18. The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
19. All That
All pictures by Andreas Klüppelberg
