Mindy and I saw The Swell Season in concert last night with Elise, Olive, and Francis at Crystal Ballroom. Wow. I mean, wow. The two-and-a-half hour gig was one long highlight (worth standing the whole time for) but being ten feet away from the band and Glen Hansard taking the stage literally unplugged for Say It To Me Now (think “that scene” in Once–we might as well’ve been passers-by on a street in Dublin) especially stood out.
They didn’t play my favorite song off of Strict Joy, Feeling The Pull, or Love That Conquers, a song that sounds like a Simon & Garfunkel/The Beatles lovechild, but Hansard covered Van Morrison’s song Astral Weeks and I thought his guitar was going to breakup on re-entry.
Seeing them live we were better able to grasp how robust their music is. The harmonies on I Have Loved You Wrong were pristine and I already thought High Horses was driving but I didn’t feel it pound in my chest until last night.
Marketa Irglova’s effortless vocals are on my mind, on my mind, on my mind…
And, although The Frames are nineteen years tight, I like to think that the crowd singing along added. Nicely done, Portland.
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