Just over two years ago, timeless whimsical art-pop duo Sparks made their first appearance in the Bay Area in years, in the form of a stripped-down two-man show that spanned the entire course of their career. What probably WASN’T immediately well known, however, was the presence of members of another band at at least one of those very same shows: Alex Kapranos and the other musicians of Franz Ferdinand, who watched the show as regular members of the audience (and then joined the boys backstage after the gig). This wasn’t the first time that Ron and Russel Mael, the brothers of Sparks, had discussed working with the Glasgow rockers, but this gathering became the impetus to make something even bigger — and less than a year after those concerts, the supergroup FFS (named for the bands that make it up) was formed, with their eponymous album cranked out a few months later. The album and the band are their own unique experiences; FFS has a playfulness that recalls the best work of Sparks, which blends smartly with the bombastic showmanship of a big rock show — the sort of thing that Franz Ferdinand is well known for. Lest fans be worried that there’s a clear divide between the two groups, the truth couldn’t be more clear: the two sets of musicians play off of each other marvelously, and when it all comes together under one roof, the FFS live show is a different experience all by itself.
Continue reading “Show Review: FFS at the Fox Oakland, 10/15/2015”