Fresh from releasing their lunar live album, Sparks’ Russell and Ron Mael land in York for their first concert in the city in 52 years, as captured on their Facebook site at 16.38pm. Picture: https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial)
“YORK! See you tonight at York Barbican!,” posted Ron and Russell Mael at 16.38pm on Sparks’ Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial), accompanying a snap of the Californian brothers with York Minster looming in the background ahead of their August 25 gig.
The American tourist-style photo had been photobombed: clearly this photo opportunity wasn’t big enough for only the both of them.
In one of two late additions to their 2026 summer tour, Sparks made their return to York on Tuesday for the first time since their University of York Central Hall appearance on November 2 1974 on their Propaganda tour.
“We’re told we played York in the Dark Ages, but our brain cells are too fried to remember it,” Russell, now 77, informed the sold-out York Barbican audience. “But we thank you for your reception.”
That reception was one of delight, gratitude, joy, enchantment, in response to a band that is still squeezing out new Sparks after 54 years.
Outsiders and convention may have expected a greatest hits set on the heritage tour circuit, played to a seated audience. Instead, Russell and “my big brother” Ron, 81, constantly reinvent their wheel, defying age with whimsical imagination and smart, emotionally detached humour.
The majority of the crowd was only too happy to be gathered in the standing area, with a more sedate experience available on the balcony for the likes of your reviewer.
After a jaunty, jocund half-hour of banjo, badinage and rhythmic, witty wordplay from Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, a jolly pucker chap in a linen suit and tie, promoting his B-Curious album, the mood was set, as perky as a macchiato, for Sparks to fly.
Three musicians – bass, guitar and drums – bounded on stage, much younger than the Mael brothers, who nevertheless appeared ageless on entry. First Ron, still pencil slim with the trademark moustache to match, hair still slicked back, his suit now baggy and free flowing, oversized like Talking Heads’ David Byrne in Stop Making Sense, as he took up his seat behind his “big synthesiser” on the front line.
Enter Russell in black-and-white polka-dotted suit, hair jet black and curly as ever, his style dandy, his body still bendy. From 8.30pm to 10.15pm, he never stopped moving, parading energy and jumps to rival the latterday Mick Jagger.
“So may we start?”, he asked, as the cue to kick-start the 19-song set with the song of such a perfect title for the opener. As bubbly as Aero, as urgent as a plea, as insistent as a repeated knock on the door, sung with heightened drama, it lay the template for an high-energy, often theatrical Maelstrom of a performance, with Ron’s keyboards ever to the fore, supported by the ballast of a flexible rock structure underneath.
Like synth duo Pet Shop Boys, Sparks stay unmistakeably Sparks but move with the times too, reflecting on the changing world with wit and style. Rather than the big hits – they played only four of their ten UK Top 40 entries – they favoured an ever-changing roster of big hitters, this time with Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab, Music That You Can Dance To, When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” and Devotion, the ballad from 2025’s Mad! album, being among the most impactful.
Not one of Beat The Clock, Number One Song In Heaven or This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us was held back for the encores; indeed ‘This Town’ – number two in 1972 – popped up without ceremony as the 14th song out of 16 before the break, as if it were nothing special. Truth is, it still sparkled above all else, on a night when the lighting was consistently spectacular too.
Further highlights? Ron stepping out from behind the keys to sing Let’s Get Funky, later topped by his brief burst of staccato dancing, followed by fanning his face with his fingers, as if in mock exhaustion.
Humour permeated not only Ron Mael’s lyrics, full of irony, satire and scepticism, but also Russell’s engagement with the audience, asking if we were known as Yorkers, Yorkians or Yorksters, before finally deciphering “Yorkies” from the responses. Better still, he misheard Fat Rascals as “Pretzels” when enquiring what Bettys’ speciality is.
Come the encores, they wholly justified that status, from the maniacal political clout of (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country, through the gorgeous The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, to the closing 2020 single All That: Sparks in rare sombre mood as Ron reflects tenderly and warmly on ageing and enduring partnerships: like the one with their ever-loyal audience.
After 28 albums, another is under way already. “See you next year,” said Russell, promising fresh Sparks will ignite anew.
Set list: Sparks, York Barbican, 25/8/2026
So May We Start; Do Things My Own Way; Reinforcements; Sherlock Holmes; Beat The Clock; Mickey Mouse; Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab; Let’s Get Funky (Ron Mael, lead vocals); A Walk Down Memory Lane; 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 The Both Of Us; Whippings And Apologies; My Devotion. Encores: (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country; The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte; All That.
