A Swell Show

.... from The Swell Season. :)

Three and a half hours, including a 45 minute encore. Wow. That's even better than at the Eels concert. And a lot less quirky.


Another beautiful venue. The Hennepin Theatre District has done a marvelous job of restoring, maintaining and modernizing these vintage opera houses. Gorgeous.

The opening act was an Irish duo, Damien Dempsey and .. what's-his-name, the mandolin player and backup vocalist. Dempsey was kinda different, right from the opening number, which had an improbably long title: "I'm not going to let your negative vibes penetrate into my psyche and cripple me", and sounded for all the world like Irish rastafari music. ;) Go figure.



After 45 minutes he yielded the stage to Glen Hansard and the audience erupted. :) What an ovation.

I think he opens each show this way: he steps around in front of the mic and sings "Say It To Me Now" as if he were the street busker that he plays in the movie Once. It's a song where he just lets it rip vocally and the audience loved it.

After that he brings on Marketa Irglova and they do a few of their best softer numbers.

The two of them were heads-together-and-talking all night, comparing notes, negotiating on what to do next, almost like they had to confer on every little detail, like a new couple trying to put their best foot forward together for relatives and friends. It was cute.


And then the rest of the band comes on, and they hit their stride. By the time they got to "When your mind's made up", one of my favorites, they just blew the lid off - fantastic. :) I just let the song and the feelings that go with it wash over me... it was wonderful.



Hansard was as full of blarney as any stereotypical Irishman. ;) What stories. Full of hooey, most of them. I wish I were going to be in Milwaukee tonight to see if he ever tells them the same way twice. :) Not to mention that I'd also like to experience it all again - the same.. but somehow very different.

At the end we all stood and hollered and begged for more. They made us wait a long time, but when they came back, it was a terrific encore - half a dozen songs, some new tunes, and more stories.

Swell show. One of the best ever. :)