REVIEW: The Swell Season – The Orpheum Theatre
The Swell Season
The Swell Season has been the soundtrack of my life. Folk-rock duo Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová released their self-titled debut album in 2006 after being approached by a Czech director to write music for his film. The album rose to fame after many of the tracks were featured in the film Once, which was a dramatized version of the duo’s lives which they both starred in. Their second album Strict Joy was released in 2009 and featured twelve new tracks (as well as special features in certain countries), and thirty-one total tracks on the deluxe edition, including many live versions of tracks from Once and other covers from their tour.
I saw The Swell Season perform in 2010 in Brooklyn, but I had been listening to the Once soundtrack since it was released in 2006. Seeing them live for the first time in thirteen years brought all the emotions. I was nervous I would put too much pressure on the show to be perfect after all these years so I didn’t listen to their albums for at least a couple weeks before the show. But, Glen and Markéta have this innate gift of sounding completely identical to their recordings. If you’ve seen the movie Once you understand that their albums are just live recordings so it makes sense they would sound quite similar in live performances, but it was still shockingly impressive. Their show at the Orpheum Theatre (which is absolutely gorgeous, but quite hot at the top of the balcony) was just over two hours long and featured twenty-two songs. They ranged from Once, Strict Joy, a new single, unreleased Márketa and Glen songs, two songs from The Frames (Glen’s old band), a cover of AC/DC’s “Gimme a Bullet to Bite On” featuring Chad Smith, and “My Father’s Daughter” featuring Olivia Vedder.
It was such a beautiful experience to see how much their songwriting has changed over the years. Their older songs from Once are full of uncertainty, young love, and adventure, while Strict Joy features more tension in love, deep metaphors, and lots of poetry. Their new single, “The Answer Is Yes,” is very definitive and straightforward, which I found both Glen and Markéta’s newer songs to be similar as well. Throughout their lives as they’ve gotten married, had children, and experienced more life, they have transitioned into a form of lyricism that doesn’t dance around a subject or leave much to the imagination. There is beauty in both the mystery and the directness, especially when you can hear the growth throughout their careers.
One of my favorite aspects of the Glen and Markéta duo is how seamless their voices blend together. Markéta has an incredibly angelic, pure, soft voice whereas Glen is raspy, rich, and rock. But the two of them sing with an undeniable amount of emotion and passion, and the harmonies they create together feel so intimate and one hundred percent real. This show was paced perfectly. There were moments of loud, faster-paced, rocking out songs, but then just at the right time they would stand back and play one of Markéta’s sensational lullabies (such as “My Roots Go Deep”). The show also showcased their extraordinary use of dynamics both in their music and in their performances.
In their performance of “When Your Mind’s Made Up” (which Glen dedicated to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers), Glen and Markéta slowly build the tension and energy into the third chorus and explode into wailing and emotions just pour out of their mouths and hit you right in the chest. It was impossible not to cry. And then towards the end of the concert Glen walks up to the front of the stage alone–just him and his guitar–and starts singing “Say It To Me Now”, the last song on the Once record, and arguably one of the most raw tracks in his discography. It is just over two minutes long, but he pours his heart and soul into the lyrics. And finally, the last encore was “Gold” which is originally a song by the band Interference, but was featured on the Once soundtrack and sung by Glen in the movie. The Swell Season often play this song at their live performances and it has become a staple. This final encore was nothing short of a necessary ending to a Swell Season concert. In true fashion, Glen naturally broke four strings from the sheer force and passion he strummed with.
If The Swell Season goes on tour again, you better expect I’ll be there and I hope I created some new fans. This concert will go down in my book as one of the best and most inspiring performances I have seen.
- DJ Backstop aka Shiloh Gonsky