Last Monday I saw "The Swell Season" in concert at the Keller Auditorium in Portland. It was amazing! One of my all-time favorite concert experiences. "The Swell Season" is comprised of musicians Glen Hansard and Market Irglova who starred in the 2006 film "Once" about a week in the life of a Dublin busker and a Czech immigrant. If you follow my blog you may remember a posting I did last August after seeing "Once" for the first time.
I can't remember the last time I was so excited about a concert. Since seeing the movie a lot has happened in the lives of Glen and Marketa. Perhaps you caught their interview with Terry Gross last week on NPR's "Fresh Air?" They fell in love in "real" life, earned an Oscar for best song, made another record together and are now on tour togther. Would all their recent acclaim adversely effect the raw and real quality that came across so strongly in the film? No!
The concert opened with vocalist and bodhran player, Ronan O Snodaigh and pianist and vocalist Paul (whose last name I've forgotten). We had no idea what to expect from them because for us they were total unknowns. They were amazing! From the nose bleed section Ronan looked like the middle-aged version of Richard Harris in a karate suit and bare feet. The karate outfit made sense once he started playing. He jumped, crouched, twirled and spun while playing the heck out of that drum. Cool! Toward the end of their set they sang a different version of the White Paternoster and invited us to join in, which I did with some fine harmony if I do say so myself! It created a beautiful, peaceful and thoughtful ambience. The song, not my singing.
After the intermission Glen walked out on stage solo and sang "Leave," one of the most gut wrenching break up songs ever. The crowd, as they say, went wild! I was wondering if he would have his old, trusty, beaten up guitar with him; the one in the movie with a big hole in it. I'm happy to say that he did. Frankly, it wouldn't have been the same if he came out with some new, slick looking instrument.
He brought Ronan and Paul back on stage at one point and talked about how they mentored him when he first started busking at the age of 13. Isn't that great? He hits the big time and he brings along his mentors. If you're interested in a second career here's some information on busking.
Later in the concert the most amazing and wonderful thing happened. Glenn started talking about this guy, Paul, that he and Marketa met on the riverfront while walking around downtown Portland earlier that day. He said that most of the time when you meet people in those circumstances you just say, 'Hi, how are you? Love your music, etc;" that it's a nice, pleasant encounter and that's it. He went on to say, "There was something special about this guy Paul. We started talking about the music and he told me that he was a singer but had such fears about getting up in front of people so Paul, are you out there?" From the audience comes this voice, "It's Jacob!" "Oh, right...Jacob! I even wrote your name down on my hand....see (shows the audience his hand)...to make sure that I remembered it and I still got it wrong! So Jacob, glad you made it...how would you feel about coming up on stage and singing a song with the band?"
The crowd rose to its feet and we were screaming and cheering and clapping as Joseph eventually made his way to the stage. This is the first time that I've actually seen someone that I would say was literally "in a daze." He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He conferred with the band for a few minutes and then came to the center stage mic and said that he could only think of one song (nerves, right?) and the band didn't know it. They told him to start and they would come in. And that's what he did, and that's what they did.
Frankly, it was kind of a stupid song but that's not the point. This guy had a good voice and, aside from a wobbly bit in the bridge, he did a good job. What made it so extremely cool is that Glenn did it in the first place, and that when the band came in they were so great. These are real musicians. They can pick up anything. When Joseph finished his song thunderous applause broke out and he just stood there looking dazed again. Glen came over and gave him a big hug and he went around and shook the hands of the band members.
When they came back for their encore they didn't play one or two songs. They played for another half hour or so. At one point Glen said, "We're having so much fun we're throwing away the song list" and they went into this cool cover of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic."
I went to the concert with Colleen, my best friend from high school, and a lass with a fine Irish name. We both really loved the concert and our only critique was that it was too short. Were we ever shocked when we got to the car, started the engine and looked at the clock to discover that it was 11:30! The concert was over three hours long.
