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Sitcoms about the nine-to-five grind rarely last for more than one season (Fred Savage's Working, anyone?) for a simple reason: people don't like to come home and unwind to a rehash of what got them so wound up to begin with. Copy machine woes and insufferable tech support guys have little comedic currency when they're too familiar; they need to beckon some greater cultural myth or tap into a vein of wild escapism if their creators have any hopes of recycling them for more than a couple of episodes.
Theoretically, a recording of a Sparks concert in Sweden would be the perfect thing to sit down to after a numbing day of point-and-click; you've probably heard a Sparks album at some point in your life (although you may have mistaken it for Queen), so the DVD has the air of the familiar, while its romantic setting (the elegant Sodra Teatern) and last minute plot twist (hey, these dudes are old now!) make the film considerably different from simply dragging out your copy of Kimono My House. In an odd turn of events, though, Lil' Beethoven: Live in Stockholm reminds me of my day job just as much as The Office does, which made it mildly difficult to sit through. That's because I work in a library, where I spend way too much time recataloguing VHS tapes from the late '80s, and many of these cassettes contain exactly what Sparks try their hand at here: rock 'n' roll performance art. Like Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave video or a live work from avant-garde NYC arts collective The Kitchen, the live translation of Sparks's 2002 Lil' Beethoven album is a capital S Statement right out of drama school: symbolic lighting, obtuse costumes, modern anxiety -- the whole shebang. As this sort of thing fell out of fashion around the time Nirvana came to prominence, I figured that my dealings with it were relegated to my job, but Sparks seem intent on drudging up this brand of consciously artsy expression.
If the feature performance's formal arrangement -- the band plays the entire album in sequence -- doesn't clue us in to this concert's peculiar flavor, then the first song, "The Rhythm Thief", certainly offers a taste of what's to come. Touring members Tammy Glover and Dean Menta man timpanis, poised at the front of the stage, while singer Russell Mael cavorts downstage in full-on rock opera mode. The concert hall percussion, flickering lights and mantra-like vocal intonations come across as a wee bit serious... But wait, those aren't monastic robes Glover and Menta are wearing -- they're hooded sweatshirts! And as soon as this realization hits, it's clear what Sparks are up to here: they're lampooning modern theatre (albeit a bit after the fact), but still giving themselves the opportunity to partake of all of its indulgences.
The group's trademark ridiculousness announces itself more prominently in "How Do I Getto Carnegie Hall?". Not only does Russell turn the titular joke and its "Practice!" punchline into a thundering off-Broadway caper, but keyboardist Ron Mael (you know, the creepy looking one) emerges, decked out in coat and tie with fake arms the length of his body. Ron assumes the role of Lil' Beethoven, a fictitious lovechild of the famed composer who, as the backstory in the DVD's bonus features reveals, decides to step out of seclusion to share his abundant talent with Sparks. In the group's typical fashion, Lil' Beethoven is almost entirely pomp, but intriguing enough to satisfactorily fill 40 minutes; his character doesn't develop any over the concert performance, but he does engage in a number of absurd dances, dramatic sequences and multimedia displays. Whether he's chasing a series of disappearing female images or leering into the camera, Lil' Beethoven oozes charisma, alternately soliciting laughter and discomfort.
You could easily write off Sparks's parody of Home of the Brave-style dramatizations as mere anarchy, as it's more of a cluttered series of beguiling gags than a pointed demonstration, but to do so would mean forgetting that all of the theatricality is still in service to the songs themselves, some of which are quite good. The jabs at pretentious art would only have served to take me back to videos from my job, if not for the music. Not having heard the album prior to viewing the DVD, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sparks still "have it" as songwriters. Fault them for leaning heavily on repetition these days, but good luck denying the pure pop hypnosis that "My Baby's Taking Me Home"'s cyclical vocals perform. With the exception of "Suburban Homeboy", Lil' Beethoven is a solid listen, maintaining the cleverness quotient and replay value of the group's early work.
And speaking of Sparks's classic material, the DVD features fifteen extra live tracks, performed out of costume but with just as much vigor as the Lil' Beethoven numbers. The band reconfigures hits like "Amateur Hour" and "Talent Is an Asset" into poppier, more economical anthems that cater to a bobbing crowd without sacrificing the essence of the original versions. These revitalized fan favorites add a frothy final layer to a night of unbridled ridiculousness, and go a long to demonstrate that a deft sense of humor ages far more gracefully than coolness.
-- Phillip Buchan
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