Monday Crack - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova “Once”
A little over a year ago I was in Santa Cruz, California visiting some close friends who are both musicians and my friends boyfriend who is Irish American suggested we go see some little independent Irish film about some musicians, featuring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, called “Once.” As he almost always makes good suggestions and has good taste, we both agreed to go with him to the movie.
The experience of seeing something that touches you deeply and having it come so unexpectedly was more than a pleasant surprise. The music in this film with all its songs written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova is great! I walked out of the theater totally uplifted and so happy that somehow I had heard about this little film. When we got home my friends boyfriend downloaded the soundtrack and I’ve been a fan ever since.
This May I had the honor of seeing Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform live at Radio City Music Hall. It was truly a special evening for all. Their lives have changed so much over the past year as “Falling Slowly”, from the movie “Once”, won the Academy Award for Best Song. They have gone from almost obscurity to opportunities they only dreamed could come true, and it was apparent they were grateful. Glen actually spoke of the last time they were in NYC. It was two years prior and he talked about how excited they had been to sell out a little club downtown, called Piano’s, that holds about 150 people. He told a story of how he and Marketa were walking up 6th Avenue and he pointed out Radio City Music Hall to her and said, “that’s where you want to play,” never dreaming that two years later that’s exactly what they would be doing.
Marketa’s family came from The Czech Republic for the concert, to see their daughter perform at Radio City. And her sister unassumingly jumped on the stage to sing harmonies with Marketa on a song she performed without Glen. I have to say the concert was one of the best concerts I have ever been to not only because I love their music together, but by how humbled they were by their own experience this year and for how grateful they were for the opportunities being given to them. They were truly appreciative that somehow word of mouth whispered from sister to brother, friend to friend, made this little film about a music busker and his dreams of recording, a sleeper hit big enough to capture the imagination of the Academy Awards and an audience worldwide.
So for those of you who haven’t seen the movie “Once”, my hype this week, rent it. The dialogue is a little hard to understand at times but the movie and music are well worth it. Also for those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to see Glen and Marketa perform live, there is also a DVD out called The Swell Season, Live from the “artist den.” It’s of a session they recorded live in Seattle and it is also very good. But nothing beats hearing them perform in person, and I just found out that they are starting another tour this week. In NYC they will be playing Central Park Rumsey Playfield on September 17th at 7pm and it looks like tickets are still available. It’s a national tour so check your local listings, their Myspace and Facebook pages, or go directly to their website to get complete city listings and see if they are playing near you. For my European friends they will be starting a European tour after they finish touring the U.S. I highly recommend buying tickets. Don’t miss the opportunity to see them perform. It’s a treat. Glen is also a lot of fun to see live. He’s got lots of stories and has a gift of the Irish blarney in him too.
To read more about Glen and Marketa and to hear their song “Falling Slowly,” check out today, Monday the 11th’s, “Daily Tune On.” For tour information check out The Swell Season website. The address is http://www.theswellseason.com/