Sparks at the Fitzgerald Theater (September 20, 2025)

It was amazing how many events were going on in St. Paul as I made my way to the Fitzgerald Theater.  Traffic was backed up on I-94 at the Snelling exit as Loons fans made their way to Allianz Field.  Fans poured into the newly named Grand Casino Arena to watch comedian Bert Kreischer take his shirt off.  There was a very long line at the Palace Theatre as fans of Last Podcast on the Left patiently waited to get in.  And when I reached the Fitzgerald, I stood behind a woman dressed like a form-fitting disco ball, glittering, light dancing off her shimmering dress, which confirmed to me that I was at the right venue. 

Sparks is a musical tandem of Russell and Ron Mael, two brothers born and raised on the coast of California, who found a musical home in London.  Their musical journey started quite a while ago in 1971.  Since then they have recorded 28 studio albums and over 500 songs.  They are currently touring to promote their latest release Mad, but they had plenty of other songs to dip into during their almost two hour concert.  

It was my first introduction to the musical duo and what was apparent is they have a very dedicated fan base who were really excited that they made the trip to St. Paul.  I also found this excerpt on the pamphlet we were handed by the ushers to be helpful:

If the world is a cafe, its ridiculous patrons babbling ridiculously all day long, then Ron Mael is the guy on his own in the corner that you don’t notice, quietly sipping his coffee. But he’s watching, listening, making notes. Those notes become songs for his band, the legendary Sparks, to be sung by his brother Russell in his unmistakable falsetto.

We last saw Sparks at the Midland Theater in Kansas City in July 2023, John writing: 

Speaking of the younger Mael brother, the 74-years-young Russell jumped about in his black and red coat, moving from one stage end to the other, hardly stopping for a breath over the full ninety-minutes.

By contrast (and as his persona), 77-year-old brother Ron sat near motionless at his keyboard for most of the show, eliciting wild cheering the few times he did get up to speak-sing and of course, when he briefly performed his trademark dance near the end.

Well the brothers are a little older, but they still put on an electric show as they near their eighth decade. They were backed by a band of four members who played guitars, bass and drums, and surprisingly did a lot of backup singing. They sounded great and I found the lighting throughout the evening to be very sophisticated considering how static the stage was set with Ron seated at his keyboard and the rest of the band stationed on risers on the back row.  Russell again danced around the stage but always seemed to be in the right spot when the spotlight hit. 

Although Sparks is promoting a new album, they seemed to play all the hits. At first, one person would leap to his or her feet to applaud a favorite song.  Then more and more people started giving standing ovations, ovations usually reserved at the end, but the audience could not wait that long as the brothers seemed to go through different musical genres like broadway musical “Reinforcements,” gypsy-vibe “Goofing Off,” Euro disco “Beat the Clock” and the techno beat that got people out of their chairs for good “Music That You Can Dance To.”

There was definitely a gleeful delight in the crowd.  Everyone there wanted to be there.  Maybe one person didn’t want to be there, an eight-year-old boy was with his family and he sat in his seat like he was on a long flight to Cairo and he just found out his mom forgot to pack his gameboy. Still, he wasn’t going to ruin the night as Ron sang the hilarious “Suburban Homeboy” and Russell brought down the house with “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us.”

“We haven’t been here for a while,” Russell said after the applause died down. “This has exceeded our expectations.”  He promised they would come back soon before launching into “The Girl is Crying in Her Latte.”  It was an encore song that had everyone on their feet, even the eight-year-old kid who was jumping up and down.  I guess they finally played his favorite song.