Glen Hansard and Fergus O'Farrell in a duet at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby.
About a year ago, you could have seen Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at the Tin Angel, a tiny 100-seat venue upstairs from the Serrano Restaurant on Second Street in Philadelphia. You could have spoken to them after the show. Maybe bought Glen a drink. (At 19, Marketa is too young to drink here.)
That was before the two won an Oscar for their passionate ballad, “Falling Slowly,” from the low-budget Irish movie, “Once,” an almost-love story that, in the parlance of Hollywood, captured America’s heart. The fact that the two stars captured each other’s hearts hasn’t hurt either. They are the proverbial unlikely and cute couple.
In the last few months, as The Swell Season, Hansard and Irglova and their band played to sold-out crowds all across the country, including Radio City Music Hall and, this week, the Tower Theater in Upper Darby. This time, there was no mingling and when the two were out on the wet streets this Delco town, Hansard kept his hat pulled down low over his curly red hair so he wouldn’t be recognized. Fat chance.
Today, they not only attract attention, they inspire adulation. At the Tower, I met two young men who spent the last three weeks following the duo around the country, paying scalper prices for tickets and saving some bucks on lodging by couch surfing—flopping on the livingroom sofas of people who sign up to host visitors from far-off lands or the city next door. Kind of like what crashing was in the 60s and 70s, only incorporated.
The guys weren’t disappointed. Hansard, who hits notes only reachable by choir boys and eunuchs, is such an intense performer that he has strummed a giant ragged hole in the soundboard of his acoustic guitar. (At first, I thought it was a pick guard. Instead, it’s a testament to the importance of a pick guard.) The moment he walked out on stage—the very edge of the stage, alone, strumming that same guitar—he engaged the audience as if he were still a busker, playing for loose change. He’s charming and boyish, funny and passionate. After years of playing with the band, The Frames, his rocker’s wildness is tempered by Irglova, who has a calming presence and an angelic voice. Their duets are so poignant and sweet they almost hurt.
Hansard, a dues-paying, 20-year “overnight” sensation, did a little payback while giving fans in New York and Philly a bonus: A chance to hear a group called Interference, which opened for The Swell Season in the two cities. Presided over by Hansard’s friend, singer-songwriter Fergus O’Farrell, Interference is a collection of European musicians, many classically trained, who are virtually unknown in the US but enormously influential in Ireland and Europe, although they’ve never had a record contract. Hansard calls O’Farrell one of his major influences and once told an interviewer that “we used to go to the attic where they played and just watch in awe. We were always learning from them.”
O’Farrell’s haunting voice, unforgettable melodies, and poetic lyrics caught the crowd’s attention, especially when he reprised his performance of the song, “Gold,” from the movie, “Once,” with Hansard and Interference guitarist Paul Tiernan providing tight harmony.
I spent some time with O’Farrell this week—he’s a remarkable man as well as a major talent—and I’ll post that story next week, with photos from his performance.
