Firstly, I have to talk about the experience of getting to the gig. Until recently, the Exhibition train station by the area of the Clyde where the Hydro and Armadillo are based has been closed for … refurbishment, I think? Anyway, I haven’t been able to make use of it and have been going to gigs around there either by taking the Subway to Cessnock and walking over the Clyde (like Moses. Lol. ‘I don’t need no stinking bridge!’) or just getting a taxi from home straight to the venue…train strikes and all that palaver (there were train strikes the night of the Roxy Music gig). Anyway…last night was the first chance I had to test out the water getting to the Armadillo by taking the train to Exhibition. It went swimmingly well and I was there in 30 mins. A train from Ashfield to Anniesland, then a train to Larkhall that was stopping at Exhibition. Sorted! It takes 9 stops from A to B, but it’s all very quick.
It was only my second experience of a gig at the Armadillo. The last time I was there was pre-pandemic in early 2020 to see Bryan Ferry. For that gig, I was up in the rafters in the Balcony. Last night we (the OH and I) were down in the stalls, just to the right of centre of the stage. We had a great view (minus lanky fuckers sitting in front of us). Because I had only had the one experience of the Armadillo prior to last night and was in a completely different part of the auditorium, I was slightly concerned about how backset the stage is. It’s a smallish stage and it seems like it’s really set back into the wall. It looks a bit odd and I was worried that might make the acoustics not that great…but I need not have worried.
The support act last night was Mr B – The Gentleman Rhymer. This choice of support act was FANTASTICALLY ‘on point’. I doff my hat to Messers Mael for their choice. Mr B was fabulous fun. He described himself as “imagine if Noel Coward, George Formby and Chuck D had been smashed together”. Lol. He was entertaining, funny and got the crowd doing singalongs as well. He also did a medley of Sparks songs as well – all with approval I am guessing. This made the OH quite happy as he started his medley with Amateur Hour, one of her faves. He even threw in a line of When I’m With You, which then made me convinced that they wouldn’t be performing it in the set. Mr B completed his set with warm applause from the crowd. It’s great when support acts win the crowd over and get the interest and Mr B certainly achieved that last night and rightly so.
Not too long a wait until the boys arrived on stage. Prompt at 8.30pm and … they started with So May We Start which, as a Simple Minds fan and all of what hearing that playing meant at the gigs last year – it was utterly FANTASTIC to hear the boys start the show with it. They then went straight into The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, then Angst In My Pants. Then there was an EARLY one from the A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing album, Beaver O’Lindy. Some other tracks from the new album, including Escalator – which is already my favourite track on the album, and Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is. A great rendition of Balls. Then…it may have been before or after Balls, I’m unsure now but OH MY GOD, they did When I;m With You and I nearly died! I appreciate that this song wouldn’t mean much to UK fans, as I don’t think it made a dent in the UK charts when it was released but it was a hit in Australia. I had completely forgotten about the track it was so long ago but I had LOVED it. Then we went and saw the Sparks Brothers documentary at the Glasgow Film Theatre and it played and…I nearly fell off my seat. Recognising it instantly but never knowing it was one of theirs. So…I was pretty convinced that last night they wouldn’t be touching it at all. Especially as Mr B had done a little bit of it in his medley. BUT THEY DID IT! And I was in raptures!
Then it was a string of hits and faves….This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us, The Number One Song In Heaven – which the crowd went fucking berserk over!, When Do I Get To Sing My Way. By this point the crowd are up out of their seats and dancing. Russell’s just an energy ball on the stage, Ron does his dance during ‘Number One Song’ and the crowd are going mental.
Russell – Jeez, what a frontman! And the amount of energy he exudes on stage puts some men half his age to shame! And his voice is very nearly faultless and he can still hit those falsettos, woah! Ron is just…Ron. But he ‘sang’ (during Shopping Mall Of Love) and he danced (during ‘Number One Song’). They were absolutely fabulous! It could be ‘gig of the year’ for me. They were phenomenal. The sound was great too. The stage lighting is stellar as well. Just fabulous. So, so fabulous.
There are still a few dates left on this leg of the UK tour. They play Manchester tonight and have two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Go see them if you can! They are also at Glastonbury this year, and have one last date in the UK, in Wolverhampton on June 22nd. Visit the Sparks website for tickets.
Trust me, you’ll have a great night, or my name’s not Slartibartfast!
Lastly, the try-out of the return home via train from Exhibition. Both the OH and I were feeling some trepidation about how the return journey will go. There was an Andre Rieu concert going on in the Hydro last night as well, so were worried it would mean double the punters wanting to get home. As we headed towards the “red worm” – the tunnel to the train station – LOADS of people were milling into the tunnel and I thought it might be a long wait for the final train. But no…most of the punters were using the tunnel just to get themselves back into Finnieston and so we were able to breathe a sigh of relief. We were able to catch the 22.43 train to Milngavie and get off at Anniesland and get the train back to Ashfield, nae bother at all. We were home before 23.30. Amazing! What a night!
