"Once" and forever...

Tuesday night, I attended a concert at the Blender Theatre by The Swell Season, also known as Glen Hansand and Marketa Irglova, also known as the Guy and Girl from “Once.” For those of you who haven’t yet seen “Once,” well…. I just feel sorry for you. For those who have, I’m delighted to report that the pair’s music is just as beautiful, haunting and memorable when it’s performed completely out of context as it is in the film.

The two (now confessed to be a real-life couple) exude an insane amount of chemistry, even with Irglova barely uttering a spoken word all night. Hansard, on the other hand, rarely stopped talking and couldn’t have been more charming while sharing stories about how he and Marta have begun to dress alike, about how he’s still deciding whether or not he likes the recognizability the film has brought him, and even while just asking the house manager to turn off the overwhelmingly loud air conditioning. The man seemed incredibly gracious and commented some variation of “thank you so much for being here” and “this is fantastic” after seemingly every song.



He also shared the quirky inspirations for some of the songs, ranging from a girl he knew who worked as a Ghostbuster to Wu’s pigs from “Deadwood.” As I expected, the crowd was mostly hipster couples, and they were as entertained as I was by a set that included not just their entire album, but also covers of Van Morrison, The Pixies and an impromptu rendition of “America, Fuck Yeah!”

They still have a few tour dates left throughout the country, so I’d recommend getting tickets immediately if they’re still available.