Sparks

The 2021 Edgar Wright film The Sparks Brothers documents the influence of Sparks over two hours and 20 minutes of nonstop awe and acclaim from the most popular musicians to have ever recorded, virtuoso producer Jack Antonoff claiming “all modern pop music is rearranged Sparks.” It’s a detailed, entertaining piece of cinema which I highly recommend, but it doesn’t even begin to capture just how much fun it is to see a Sparks show live. The performance at the Bristol Beacon on Thursday 18 June 2026 was two hours and ten minutes of pure joy. On the walk home along the Bristol harbour, my cheeks hurt from smiling.

My only prior experience with Sparks was Glastonbury 2023 on the Park Stage. They played the sunset pre-headline slot, the set was glorious, but as my kids were falling asleep I listened outside my tent pitched just outside the Park grounds. The soundscape was celestial, but I couldn’t see anything and I made a promise to myself to catch them on a tour. I finally did.

Let’s first look at exactly what we got on this tour by peeking at the setlist.

• So May We Start


• Do Things My Own Way


• Reinforcements


• Sherlock Holmes


• Beat the Clock


• Mickey Mouse


• Running Up a Tab at the Hotel for the Fab


• Let’s Get Funky 
(Ron Version)

• Porcupine


• A Walk Down Memory Lane


• JanSport Backpack


• Music That You Can Dance To


• When Do I Get to Sing “My Way”


• The Number One Song in Heaven


• This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us


• Whippings and Apologies


• My Devotion



Encore

• (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
• 
The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
• 
All That

For a band that’s been around 52 years and has recorded 28 albums, assembling a career-spanning set list is no simple task. What the brothers put together was diverse and era crossing, yet tunes such as 2025’s ‘Running Up a Tab’ sounded as iconic as their international Top Ten favourite ‘Beat the Clock.’ Sparks does something unique: they weave together a half century of output into something so cohesive it sounds like an “album tour.” 

The sold-out crowd was diverse too, with older fans who’ve followed them from the start alongside young people born 30 years after their first album. My “crowd hero” was a young goth girl on the first balcony who sang every word to every tune.

The film may have brought the brothers to the attention of many who didn’t know the name of the band that had penned so many earworms, but I do hope those viewers don’t miss out on the celebratory intimacy of a Sparks show live. Age has taken nothing from the brothers, and the performances are a mastery of music and theatre that is still, after decades of inspiring others, not quite like anything else you’ve seen.