Sparks at The Palace Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles

Tonight I went to see Sparks at The Palace Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. I took the Red Line from North Hollywood, got off at Pershing Square. The Palace is just two blocks down from there, on Broadway near 6th. I had never been to a show there, and I'm not sure how long it's been re-opened, but it's yet another of the century-old Downtown Movie Palaces in the historic theatre district that have been re-opened in the last fifteen or so years. In the 1920s when they were all new, these theatres were promoted as "Movie Palaces", that's what they called them. Whoever owned "The Palace" must have figured, "well, the name's good enough for me". In all seriousness, it's really great to be able to see concerts at all these old theatres now, because I can remember back in the 1970s, when Dad would take me and Chris Downtown to go to The Athletic Club, all of these theaters were closed and boarded up. But lo and behold, after another three decades passed, entrepreneurs got some good ideas, and now they are all opening back up again.

The Palace is a trip, because it obviously has either been recently re-opened, or it hasn't been used much, because there are still some signs of wear inside. My seat was in the balcony, front row, and when you look up at the stage curtain, you can see the fraying at the top, and a tear down one pleat, and you think "wow! This is the original curtain, the one that has been here since the theatre opened.

I just now Googled it, and found out that The Palace opened in 1911, as a Vaudeville Theatre, so that curtain has been hanging there all this time. There are very large paintings hanging on the walls left and right of the stage, depicting idyllic country settings for society types. There are Angels on the ceiling. This theatre, more than even the others I've been to, really evokes a feeling of going back in time to the early 20th century. I mean, think about it; the building hosted all those performers from that era, and it was full of that energy from the time when Vaudeville was popular.

Then it closed, probably in the 50s or earlier, after the Hollywood Theaters took over, and it just sat there for 60 years or so. The paint is flaking a little bit around the edges of the proscenium.

So you can still see the place as it was, and you can still feel the ghosts.........sort of.

Until Sparks come onstage and blast them out of the building. Sparks has always been a hard rock band in a live setting, they play with as much force and energy as any band you care to name, but in the past year they seem to have taken things a step farther. Now they play like a heavy metal band. I mean, it's still Sparks music and their sound, but they have a band of young backing musicians they've been using for the Hippopotamus Tour, since 2017, who play very tight, very punchy and very loud. The drummer in particular. So the Sparks concerts I have seen in the Hippopotamus Era have all been very loud (my tinnitus ear is ringing right now, as I write), but they've also been delivered in the style of any of the hardest rock concerts you have ever been to. All of this is okay with me. I have always thought of Sparks as a hard rock band. They were in 1974 and they are now. Grimsley didn't like it, but then he's not as big a fan as I. He walked out of a show last year at the El Rey.

Me? Sparks is in my top ten favorite bands of all time. I love the energy and the volume.

The thing is that, here you have Russ Mael. The guy has just turned 70. That's Seventy. And yet he moves onstage, dancing, jumping, light on his feet and agile, as if he were 40. He sings like he's 40.

Something weird is going on, and we might be entering an era where in a few years we might see an 80 year old Rock Star, and I don't mean a feeble one, but one who still performs more or less as he always did in his early days.

Candidates include Russell Mael, Alice Cooper, Todd Rundgren, all of whom are 70 this year, all of whom I've seen live this year, and all of whom performed with the energy, voice and moves of a 40 year old.

These guys are walking advertisements for staying in shape, which Yours Truly is going to do as well. When I watch Russ Mael I can hardly believe what I am seeing (and keep in mind that he is the singer who influenced Freddy Mercury).........well, I am probably rambling so I will leave it at that for tonight.

Les Sewing Sisters opened the show with a half hour set. They were novel and fun, though the surprise of their act was gone, since I saw them open for Sparks twice last year at the El Rey. They switched their set up though, and played some new stuff. Grimsley likes Les Sewing Sisters better than he likes Sparks. Me, I think they're alright, but they don't really play music. It's more like sewing machines crossed with rhythmic vocal duets, mostly spoken, in deadpan delivery. They are good but it's about persona and performance art. But they are also very original and everybody should see them at least once.

Well, enough jabbering. It was another awesome Sparks concert, my eighth since 2006.

I once saw Van Halen open for Sparks, on New Year's Eve 1976. Imagine that, what a double bill.

See you in the morning.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)