Tonight was Sparks' final show at The El Rey Theatre. They played three nights in all; I was there for two of 'em, opening night on Saturday and closing night tonight. On Saturday I had a pretty good standing spot (the shows were general admission), about five "rows" of people to the stage. My sightline on Saturday was good, too. Just one Tall Guy on the horizon, and he wasn't directly in front of me, so my view was mostly unobstructed. The show was sold out, and thus the theatre was a bit of a sardine can, and we had to wait almost an hour between opening act Les Sewing Sisters and Sparks, but those were minor inconveniences in what turned out to be an awesome show. I gave a somewhat distracted review on Saturday night, which you may have read.
Well anyhow......guess what?
Tonight was even better.
Before I went down to Hollywood (this time by myself, on Saturday Grimsley came with), I told myself that I didn't wanna stress anything. Saturday had been horrible traffic, so even though tonight was a Tuesday, I left a little later to avoid rush hour. I was still hoping to see Les Sewing Sisters for a second time, but if I missed 'em, well......no problem. A stressless drive was the most important thing. Same for the show itself, and my place in the audience. I figured that I'd had such a good spot on Saturday and had such a great show, that it would be okay tonight even if I wound up in the back, just so long as I didn't have to stand in one single position for three hours, wedged into another sardine can.
I hate the following cliche, but "I am getting too old for that stuff", and really, I was too old for it when I was 16. I didn't like general admission then, and I don't like it now, unless the venue is a small club. Small clubs can be total sardine cans, but because they are small, you are close to the stage no matter where you are standing. The El Rey is just big enough to be the kind of sardine can where, if you are gonna be sardined in, it's better to be close to the stage, because otherwise you will be Waaay In The Back, and there will be Lots Of Tall Guys In Front Of You, Many Of Them Grouped Together (you ever notice how Tall Guys go to concerts with other Tall Guys?), and then You Won't Be Able To See A Doggone Thing, even if you stand on your tiptoes.
I was a little worried about that happening, getting stuck at the back of the sardine can, obstructed by Giants, but I figured I'd at least have some breathing room back there, and could just hang out in the lobby during the intermission between the bands.
But it turned out to be magic. Perhaps Tuesday night was the key, and the fact that it was the last show. I didn't get there until 8:20, just ten minutes before Les Sewing Sisters were scheduled to go on, but Lo and Behold!..........the theater was only half full, and there was only a single row of people at the front of the stage. And no Giants! I couldn't believe my luck. I wound up standing center stage, just one person in front of me, with a totally unobstructed view. It was a miracle, because as the night went on, the El Rey did fill up to about 80% capacity. But as close as I was, I was never a sardine.
So, I got to see Les Sewing Sisters once again, front and center, and I even knew their songs this time. Someone said that they should be in a David Lynch movie, and I think that is an apt description. There may be a political statement lurking within the art as well, when you consider that much of Asia is a sewing factory with women at the machines - the sweatshop factor. They make the world's clothing, and all they do is sew. Les Sewing Sisters are Japanese, and more Westernized, but methinks they might be making a comment in support of other less fortunate women in the Asian world. It's a little more evident when you see them twice, though it's anything but overt, and they do indeed belong in a David Lynch movie.
I was front and center for Sparks, closer than I have ever been before, and well.......
I guess it was the best Sparks show I have ever seen. I know I always say that after every band, and every show. But it really was, and the audience would agree with me. They (we) never stopped howling for the entire show. We L.A. Sparks fans love our Mael Brothers, and the fans went bananas at this show. The energy propelled the band to play one of the most energetic and hard rockinest shows I have ever seen. Certainly the hardest rocking Sparks show ever, which is saying something.
I have mentioned this before, but go listen to a Sparks album, even "Kimono" which is in the rock format, and then imagine what they'd be like in concert. "Kimono My House" is Art Rock, but it rocks, and yet, you might imagine that, in concert, the music might be poppish or somehow light.
But that's the startling thing with Sparks : they are as hard rock live as any band you can name.
You have to see it to believe it.
After tonight's show, I was thinking, "you can't follow that".
You'd have to be Judas Priest to follow that, or Van Halen.
Sounds crazy, right? But it's true. And you know I know my music. Even if you are not a fan of Sparks' music, you would still say "Great Googley Moogley" at their live show.
Only Judas Priest or Van Halen could follow them. That's how high energy and hard rock it was.
Okay, I'll throw in Rainbow circa 1983 and Rush, too. But that's it. Those are the most high energy acts I have ever seen, all of the above named.
And ELP. But they didn't play Hard Rock per se. They just plain blew you off the map musically. They were high energy in a different way.
But we'll leave it at that for now. The point being that you would not expect to hear Sparks equated with Van Halen as a live band.
But you have heard it now. Tonight was one of the highest energy shows I've ever been to, with a killer band of 20 and 30 Somethings backing up the Mael Brothers, who - between them - have been alive for 141 years!
Russ is 69, and Ron is 72.
Unfreaking real. /////
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