This town is big enough for the both of them: Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael are bound for York Barbican. Picture: Munachi Osegbu
CULT pop-rock pioneers Sparks will play York for the first time since 1974 on their 2025-2026 world tour.
The Mael brothers, Ron (keyboards) and Russell (vocals), will take to the York Barbican stage on Tuesday, August 25 in one of two date added to a British itinerary already booked into London, Glasgow, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Bristol. Southend-on-Sea newly awaits too on an itinerary also taking in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
Returning to York after a 52-year hiatus, Sparks are lining up a euphoric, career-spanning set on the back of their 28th studio album, 2024’s MAD!, and companion EP, MADDER!
Ron, now 80, and Russell, 77, rose to fame with 1974 hits This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour, from the album Kimono My House.
Further chart success ensued with Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth (1974); Something For The Girl With Everything (1975); Get In The Swing (1975); Looks, Looks, Looks (1975); The Number One Song In Heaven (1979); Beat The Clock (1979); When Do I Get To Sing My Way (1994); When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing) (1994); When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’ (1995) and This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us, with Faith No More (1997).
Sparks formed in Los Angeles, California, where Ron and Russell were raised in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood and established the band in 1968 while attending UCLA. Going on to be recognised as “your favourite band’s favourite band”, the duo inspired artists as diverse as Joy Division, Squeeze, Depeche Mode, Björk, Beck and latterly The Last Dinner Party. As producer Jack Antonoff once put it: “All pop music is re-arranged Sparks.”
In 2021, the Maels were the subject of Edgar Wright’s documentary The Sparks Brothers. That year too, the brothers conceived, wrote and scored visionary French filmmaker Leos Carax’s surreal, dark, meta-fictional rock opera, Annette, which charted the tragic romance between a provocative stand-up comedian and a world-renowned opera singer, whose lives are upended by the birth of their mysterious child.
Alongside this summer’s headline shows, Sparks will appear at Green Man Festival on August 23, preceded by supporting Gorillaz at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, having joined Damon Albarn and co on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 9 to perform The Happy Dictator, a collaboration featured on Gorillaz’s 2026 album The Mountain.
Extra tickets have been released for Sparks’ York Barbican debut at yorkbarbican.co.uk. Doors will open at 7pm.
The poster for Sparks’ concert at York Barbican on August 25