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‘Once’ in a lifetime
Swell Season brings heart to Riverside
By Kyle Stevens
The heart didn’t stop there, as Hansard introduced the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir to perform “Falling Slowly” which earned a standing ovation from the audience and made the hairs stand on end.
Not one vibration passed through Glen Hansard’s microphone at the Riverside Theater before he approached the front of the stage, opened his arms wide, and started playing “Say It To Me Now” unplugged at the top of his lungs on Thursday May, 8.
Hansard, picked up right where he left off in the 2008 Academy Award winning film, “Once.” His recording partner Marketa Irglova, who also starred in film, traded off with Hansard on piano and guitar throughout the evening, Their interactions were genuine and emotionally-charged, mirroring their performances in “Once.”
Bringing raw street performance energy to the sit-down audience that ranged from well-dressed college students to older adults, the almost three hour performance was part light hearted comedy about relationships and part celebration of Irish culture.
The show opened with Irish street performer Damien Dempsey, whom Hansard handpicked for the tour. Dempsey’s act included folk songs and drinking humor. He was accompanied by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, the violinist for Hansard’s band The Frames.
By the time Hansard and Irglova took the stage accompanied by a few other Frames members, the concert hall was filled with vibrant sounds of the audience’s laughter. With a spotlight on him that almost mimicked the set up a comedian might use, Hansard kept the audience entertained with stories of Ireland, falling love, and the heartbreak that may follow. Hansard answered numerous shouts from the audience humorously as he pandered to the crowd’s requests. The audience was treated to several original solos from other members.
If the performance were to have a theme, Hansard specifically let the audience know that this theme would be how the mind and the heart can conflict when falling in love. The songs that followed matched this promise, as Swell Season performed the relationship based “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” “Falling Slowly,” and “Lies.”
The heart didn’t stop there, as Hansard introduced the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir to perform “Falling Slowly” which earned a standing ovation from the audience and made the hairs stand on end. Before stepping down, Hansard and Irglova also covered the Pixies song “Gigantic” which made the crowd, and even Hansard, laugh because of the its awkward meaning.
Most songs Swell Season played were accompanied by piano, violin, bass, and electric guitar, and as the concert progressed, the level of seriousness diminished among the performers and the crowd.
Hansard and Irglova also introduced several new creations which showcased a slower jazz or lounge piano, vocal melody, and light guitar which they deemed as “a work in progress.” One new tune, “Go With Happiness,” focused seriously on forgiveness and moving on in a relationship.
The show closed with Hansard asking for the audience’s participation in singing an old Irish folk song, also recorded as “The Banks of the Royal Canal” by Bob Dylan.
Swell Season helped the Riverside Theater find its heart that night, and the result was a performance that elicited smiles, laughter, cheers, and maybe even a few tears.
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