Ron and Russell Mael: Bringing Sparks back to York after a 52-year hiatus. Picture: Munachi Osegbu
CULT Californian pop-rock pioneers Sparks will play York for the first time in 52 years on their 2025-2026 world tour on August 25.
The Mael brothers, Ron (keyboards) and Russell (vocals), will take to the York Barbican stage in one of two dates added in June to a British itinerary already booked into London, Glasgow, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Bristol. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe have been on their travel list too.
Their last York appearance came at the University of York on November 2 1974, they year when Sparks rose to fame with This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour, both from the album Kimono My House.
Ron, now 81, and Russell, 77, are lining up a career-spanning set next Tuesday on the back of their 28th studio album, 2024’s MAD!, its companion EP, MADDER!, and now Sparks Live On The Moon, released on double CD and download/stream on August 14, to be followed by the limited-edition moon-coloured, marbled double LP, available exclusively from the band’s store at https://store.allsparks.com/ ahead of its September 4 release.
The album cover artwork for Sparks’ 2026 live album, Sparks Live On The Moon
The eternally adventurous, boundary-pushing Mael brothers achieve another first with this 20-track performance, captured in all its heavenly glory, complete with intro and outro contributions by actress Cate Blanchett.
“After our 2025 World Tour, Sparks accepted an invitation to do a special one-off concert on the Moon, more precisely at the Taruntius Crater, near Mare Fecunditatis,” say Ron and Russell, in an announcement from Earth 2026.
“Honoured to be the first band to perform on the Moon, let alone at the beautiful Taruntius Crater, we couldn’t have imagined the lunar fan interest, with all tickets being grabbed up within an hour, Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT). Thank you, Moon!
“And a big thank-you to Cate Blanchett for taking the time out of her busy schedule to accompany us on this journey and perform emcee duties at this special concert. What a riot Cate was on the mission’s four-day flight, helping us pass the time with hours of gravitational-pull jokes and the like!
The poster for Sparks’ York Barbican debut
“So sit back, close your eyes and imagine the wondrous setting, and enjoy Sparks Live On The Moon.”
The track listing is: So May We Start; Do Things My Own Way; Reinforcements; Academy Award Performance; Goofing Off; Beat the Clock; Please Don’t F*** Up My World; Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab; Suburban Homeboy (“Ron Speaks” Version); All You Ever Think About Is Sex; Drowned In A Sea Of Tears; JanSport Backpack; Music That You Can Dance To; When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”; The Number One Song In Heaven; This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us; Whippings And Apologies; Lord Have Mercy; The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte and All That.
The live album comes ahead of a final run of shows for 2026 that will see Sparks return to Southend-on-Sea, as well as York, for the first time since 1974, alongside a highly-anticipated set at Green Man Festival, Crickhowell, on August 23, and dates in France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Sparks formed in Los Angeles, California, when Ron and Russell, raised in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, established the band in 1968 while attending UCLA. Now known as “your favourite band’s favourite band”, the duo went on to inspire artists such 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.”
The album cover artwork for Sparks’ 2024 album, Mad!
After the 1974 springboard of This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour, they notched further chart success 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 & 1995); When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing) (1994) and This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us, with Faith No More (1997).
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.
Earlier this year, Sparks supported 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.
Extras tickets were released in June for Sparks’ York Barbican debut but have since sold out. Doors will open at 7pm next Tuesday. Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer supports. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Sparks: “Your favourite band’s favourite band”