Amid the myriad of hackneyed bands that litter the music scene and unjustly accrue far too many column inches, Sparklehorse dazzle like a pearl amongst swine. Whilst being a man of few words on stage, Mark Linkous demands your respect without ever asking for it: there are no rock star pretensions here, no classic rock shapes thrown, no contrived angst. Mark Linkous says hello, plays his music and then says goodbye. It's that simple.

I've lost count of the Sparklehorse gigs I've been to since I bought their debut album Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot in 1995, but tonight's show is one of the very best. From the opening fragile chords of ‘Saturday’, it's clear that stripping back the band to just three (Linkous, Scott Minor and, for this current round of dates, Todd Kelley) has refocused Sparklehorse and allowed them to relax; amply shown by Mark's unusually high levels of banter between songs.

‘Weird Sisters’, ‘Sad & Beautiful’ and ‘Gasoline Horseys’ follow swiftly in a medley of heart-melting splendour and then the highlight of the night ushers forth in a show of delicate emotion: ‘Spirit Ditch’ has always been one of the cornerstones of their debut album and tonight it sounds stunning. Haunting and graceful in equal measure, the song soars and highlights the strengths of Linkous' songwriting.

The set is balanced well with a couple of faster paced tracks and for ‘Happy Man’ the biggest cheer of the night is reserved - Linkous effortlessly moving from balladeer to riffer extraordinaire, whilst maintaining complete control.

Most of tonight’s set is culled from their debut album, but Mark & co do tease us with two new tracks that make us all yearn for the new album (due next year): ‘It's Not So Hard’ and ‘Sunshine 2’ sit perfectly already amongst the Sparklehorse canon and indicate that achingly beautiful tunes are coming our way again.

If you've never heard Sparklehorse before or haven't fully explored the twisted dream-like mind of Mark Linkous, then I implore you to do so. It's times like these that you’re thankful for that little thing called music.
(5/5)

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