Sparks

On 26 August 2026 at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea, Sparks bring the Mael brothers’ pop laboratory to the stage. Formed in late-60s Los Angeles, the duo has shaped a catalogue that moves from art-pop and early glam to a clean electronic pivot with Giorgio Moroder on No. 1 in Heaven, while keeping Russell’s high-register vocals and Ron’s structured keyboards at the center. The UK first locked in with Kimono My House in 1974 and the track This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us. From there, Sparks kept shifting formats: new wave tangents, disco edges, and the orchestral, pattern-driven writing of Lil’ Beethoven in the 2000s. They like crossovers too, teaming with Franz Ferdinand as FFS, writing the songs for Leos Carax’s film Annette, then releasing The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (2023) and Mad! (2025). Live, that history plays out as tight narratives and gradual builds, synths rubbing up against guitar and piano figures, with lyrics that lean toward theatrical storytelling. A concise tour through decades of reinvention, delivered by two players who treat pop as a set of moving parts.