One of my favorite concerts of all time. Hands down.



It wasn't blow your mind amazing, it wasn't chalk full of excitement, electricity, dancing, or anything like that. It was just simple, and simply wonderful.

Around this time last year, I remember reading an Entertainment Weekly magazine (for it had my music crush at the moment, Amy Winehouse on the cover) and reading about this new Irish musical, "Once", that was that was reviewed (even though the film didn't come out in the US until the following January, and I was absolutely crazy trying to find it until then). Fact #1: I love the Irish. #2: I love musicals. #3: I love singer songwriters.

So when I read that this film was a contemporary musical, starring two actual musicians, it was like that Savage Garden song, "I Knew I Loved You Before I Met You"...rather, "before I saw/heard you."

Anyways. The show was way more than what I expected--which was that they would just play the soundtrack from "Once", which honestly would have been perfectly satisfactory. After all, I fricken love the music from that film.

But Hansard and Marglova have continued working together since then (obviously, forming "the Swell Season") and they had plenty of new tunes, just as great or even better than the first batch. And of course there's that whole thing about how you already know these musicians are fantastic live and stripped down, if you saw the film.



There were some really, just calm, beautiful songs, with heartbreakingly gorgeous harmonies/melodies. Sam even cried. Multiple times.

Then there were the ones where they totally just jammed out. Or when Glen used his magnificent screaming in anguish thing he does, which gets me right in my heart parts every time (especially if my heart-parts are located in my pants...is that innappropriate?) He did a kick ass cover of a Van Morrison song that is to die for. I almost thought he was gonna die for a moment, the poor guy practicaly rips his heart out all over again with every song about heartbreak he sings.



You can tell he wears his heart on his sleeve, and before every song he would start to give us a little intro about what the song was about, which would turn into rambling about how ridiculous it is that all the organs in your body communicate so well, yet the head and heart muscles stop talking at birth, and then somehow make a Freaks and Geeks connection to the song. Truly Adorable. He knew that he was rambling a bit to much at times, and even apologized for treating us all like his therapist.



They were apparently just as taken with us, as we them, because the atmosphere for the evening was so great that they not only tried out multiple songs that had never been played before (if one time in rehearsal doesnt count) but they also came back for almost another full hour for the encore, and had a couple stagehands/other musicians come out and sing a song or two, as if they were playing back in a pub in Ireland; totally relaxed, hanging out, listening to some music.

The opening act was even a busker from Ireland, Damien Dempsey. He totally brought the feel of Grafton Street to the Pageant. Also noteworthy, an amazing interlude provided by violist (and member of Glen's band, The Frames) Colm Mac Con Iomaire called "The Blue Shoes."

It was just great fun. I'm smitten. If I could marry that evening I would--committment phobia and all.

If you never saw "Once" or managed to miss the Oscar-Winning (literally, these adorable troubadors won an Academy Award) performance of Falling Slowly, please please, check out some of these tunes here: http://www.myspace.com/oncethemovie.
or here: http://www.myspace.com/theswellseason
Aside from the afore mentioned track, I highly recommend "When Your Minds Made Up", "Lies" or "If You Want Me" from what's available on their myspace players, for a nice introduction.

Okay, fine. Just to include a video, and a perfect example of the screaming throat amazingness that I referenced (as well as one of my favorite songs), here's "Say it to Me Now" from the opening of "Once".

P.S. If you have no idea what I meant by "busking" or "Grafton Street", this video should clear that up...


OR!

If you're too impatient to listen to a new song, you can hear Glen the way I first heard him (not that you also can be on a bus in Ireland, listening to an album of pop cover songs), singing Britney Spear's "Everytime", (which is completely gorgeous when he sings it), or Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River".

As the name of the cd we were listening to said, they are obviously "Even Better Than the Real Thing". Sadly, this cd is out of print (it was just for charity) but I managed to get one after coming back to the States, and it's amazing. If you like, I'll make you a copy. Or send you the mp3s.

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