Swell Season at Greek Theatre

The Swell Season is a little musical engine that could.  They were first formed when singer-guitarist Glen Hansard stepped outside of his Irish alt-rock cultish band The Frames to team with Czech pianist-singer Marketa Irglova.  The duo also starred in the low-key love story Once, the 2007 indie film by ex-Frames bassist John Carney that went on to earn acclaim and then a Best Original Song Oscar at the 2008 Academy Awards for the delicate, pining “Falling Slowly.”

The Oscar-winning song came early during The Swell Season’s recent performance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on October 4th before a devoted audience. The generous and giving two-hour set that pushed the venue’s curfew opened with “Into the Mystic,” the first of two Van Morrison covers (one of Hansard’s touchstones), then “Falling Slowly,” surprising the crowd. 

The rest of the band included musicians from The Frames, adding embellishments of electric guitar, violin, bass, and drums. The group’s songs were part of the set list too, which included other covers and special guests as well. Elements of folk, touches of classical structure, and low-key pop all come together in the Swell Season’s songs, which sidestep lovey-dovey illusions for real emotions and hearts wide open. 

Though Hansard and Irglova are a musical and romantic couple, it’s really his show.  His wry quips and anecdotes between songs added to his personable charm, strumming and, at times, banging hard on his visibly worn acoustic guitars.  Irglova, who’s more the shy type, shared a sweet story about a friend hosting the pair in her home for Oscar week, and took center stage several times as well.

The songs range from life’s aches to the questioning of oneself, mostly earnest and crafted with subtlety, offset by Hansard’s oh-so-Irish humor.  The highlights were many, including the slow-burn soaring waltz of “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” the teetering emotions of “This Low” and “The Moon” from The Swell Season album, and new songs such as the renewal of “Maybe I Was Born To Hold You In These Arms.”

Hansard was riveting for a solo run of songs that included his “unplugged,” street busker-style reading of “Say It To Me Now” from Once, and a punkish, outburst-filled, thrash-the-acoustic-guitar version of Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks.” Irglova sang and played guitar in the spotlight for her new song, “I Have Loved You Wrong.”

Director Carney sat in on bass for Once songs, then Hansard brought out Richard Sherman, now 80, who, with his brother Robert, were Walt Disney’s key film and theme park attraction composers in the ’60s, from Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book to “It’s a Small World.” From the band onstage to the audience, everyone couldn’t help smiling and singing along, everyone reliving childhoods with Sherman on piano for “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”  

The guest spots weren’t over yet, as out came Sam Beam, aka Iron and Wine, who opened the evening, to be part of the vocal exchange on another cover tune, Neil Young’s “Out On A Weekend.”

Among the notable numbers from The Frames’ catalog were the driving and dizzy “Fitzcarraldo” and the hopeful, intense “People Get Ready” (an original, not a Curtis Mayfield cover). 

With each Los Angeles-area appearance, The Swell Season has shifted to larger venues, from the Fonda Music Box to the Wiltern last November, to this recent Greek Theatre outing.  Essentially a grass-roots success story with little airplay outside of outlets such as Southern California’s KCRW (and thank them for that), the group is the antithesis of the force-fed cynicism and gimmickry of most pop.  Here’s to many more seasons of that enrapturing music.