Sparks

The two members of sparks stand facing the camera in front of a red background.
  • Contemporary Music
  • Vivid LIVE
  • Joan Sutherland Theatre
  • Seating map

Your favourite band’s favourite band returns

More than 50 years into their singular career, Californian art pop icons Sparks have never been more beloved. Buoyed by Edgar Wright’s admiring 2021 documentary, brothers Ron and Russell Mael have gone from strength to strength, scoring major films, releasing critically acclaimed records and touring the world with rapturously received, sold-out performances. After their triumphant return to Australia to play the Sydney Opera House in 2023, your favourite band’s favourite band is back for Vivid LIVE, playing a career-spanning set at the Joan Sutherland Theatre for one night only.

Inspirations to generations of musicians – from New Order and The Smiths to Björk, Beck and Jack Antonoff – Sparks broke through with their 1974 smash Kimono My House, setting in motion a wildly eccentric career that saw them apply their unforgettable touch to art rock, synth pop, new wave, movie musicals and everything in between. 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.

With more than six-decades of classics – including This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the 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 is set to deliver a euphoric evening of music that has become the stuff of legend.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Event details

Anyone who loves Sparks remembers the moment the band entered their lives.

Rolling Stone

The Mael brothers’ career-spanning set pairs the genuinely moving with the flagrantly ridiculous – and their refusal to play things straight still has audiences dancing in the aisles.

The Guardian

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Joan Sutherland Theatre

The Joan Sutherland Theatre is located at the northern side of the foyer, to the left hand side of the stairs leading to the Concert Hall. Best accessed through the covered concourse. All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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