Your favourite band’s favourite band, the legendary US art pop icons, Sparks, are returning to Australia for headline shows in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane and touring New Zealand for the first time this may.
Since storming into the UK charts, minds and airwaves in 1974 with ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us’ from their much lauded album, Kimono My House, Californian act Sparks – brothers Ron and Russell Mael – have been at the cutting edge of pop, creating new musical genres and inspiring generations of musicians.More than 50 years into their singular career, the Californian art pop icons have never been more beloved. Buoyed by Edgar Wright’s admiring 2021 documentary, Sparks have gone from strength to strength, scoring major films, releasing critically acclaimed records, and touring the world with rapturously received, sold-out performances.
From Joy Division and Squeeze to Depeche Mode, Bjork and Beck, to The Last Dinner Party and beyond, their influence & impact on music cannot be overstated – as super-producer Jack Antonoff declared “all pop music is re-arranged Sparks”.They’ve collaborated with everyone from electronic guru Giorgio Moroder to Todd Rundgren, The Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin and maverick French filmmaker Leo Carax (on 2023’s musical Annette) and earned high-profile fans from Paul McCartney to “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Following the May 2025 release of their acclaimed 28th studio album MAD! and the companion October 2025 EP MADDER!, the band’s recent world tour was rapturously received. And who can forget the cameo from Cate Blanchett, who danced in a canary yellow suit in their film clip for ‘The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte’, which then became a tribute nearly every night on their mammoth 40-date world tour!
With more than six-decades of classics – including ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’, ‘Angst In My Pants’, and ‘The Number One Song In Heaven’ – plus recent hit albums The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (2023) and MAD! (2025) in their arsenal, Sparks are set to deliver euphoric evenings of music that has become the stuff of legends.
