Elba Sessions

The blog has been a bit quiet of late and I guess that reflects January in general. Lack of cash, bad weather and not much going on gig-wise in the first couple of weeks of the month. However, mid-way through the month, I’ve been to my first gig of 2010 and not my average type of gig at that. I mean it’s more likely that I’ll go and see bands at Sleazies who are aquaintances of filmstars/tv people (like so) than actually go to a gig to watch an Oscar winner but I made an exception for The Swell Season. There’s a good chance a lot of people will be pretty unfamiliar with The Swell Season and but for the film ‘Once‘, I probably would be too. Indeed, if you are unfamiliar with ‘Once’ I’d highly recommend searching it out. It can be found for only a couple of quid at most retailers and it’s an absolute gem of a film, very low budget, heartwarming to the max, and one for people who love music. I encountered the film in 2007 when a friend and I were taken along to a preview screening including a live performance by the film’s main protagonist’s by our good friend Robert. He promised us that we’d love the film and that we did. Anyway, this isn’t a film blog and I’m certainly not qualified to write like an authority on cinema!

The Swell Season are a collection of musicians featuring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who play the two main characters from the film as well as being the writers of the film’s soundtrack and the oscar winners for the song ‘Falling Slowly’. The rest of the band are made up of Glen’s other project, Irish band, The Frames. Having just released their second album ‘Strict Joy’, I was delighted to get the chance to see them play Glasgow for the first time. It was also my first time in the City Halls, a really nice venue but again, not my usual type of gig venue.

The evening was kicked off by The Lost Brothers, an Irish acoustic duo who I’ll admit I’d never heard of before but I’ve since bought the album and it hasn’t been out of my head since Saturday. They were just the right mix of folk, americana and country and I’ll definitely be looking out for them in future.

It’s unlikely that I’ll see a longer gig in 2010. Glen and Marketa took to the stage around 8:30 and didn’t finish until not long before the clock struck 11, an impressive two and a half hour stint. They played a varied set of songs from both Swell Season albums, much of the Once soundtrack and a few other random songs for good measure. As a frontman Glen really makes the band connect as a live act, telling funny anecdotes in between songs and explaining the meanings behind songs. Marketa on the other hand is very quiet and shy and spends most of the time sat behind the piano but when she does take centre stage she has such a likeable, charming quality. You could just keep her in your pocket! Set highlights for me were Say It To Me Now and Leave from the Once soundtrack as well as Feeling The Pull from the most recent album.

As I said before, I’d definitely recommend people to have a wee look at The Swell Season, or even the Once soundtrack. Maybe you will fall in love with the film just as much as I did.

Next stop: Nice and Sleazy’s – Wed 20th Jan – Cuddly Shark, Farewell Singapore, My Cousin I Bid You Farewell and Bad Bad Men