Glen Hansard has been producing quality music for 30 years, first with the magnificent The Frames, then with two albums as The Swell Season, and most joyfully and successfully under his own name. As glorious as that output has been, it is in a live setting that his music really takes flight and becomes truly cathartic and life-affirming.
This album, ‘Live at the Sydney Opera House’ bears witness to the live experience. The concert was recorded four years ago and catches Glen in particularly fine form. From the first hopeful notes of ‘Winning Streak’ to the last aching and passionate strains of ‘Her Mercy’, Glen and the highly accomplished band of musicians, never put a foot wrong.
At a time when we are in the midst of a pandemic that has produced unthought-of scenes, empty streets and concert halls, illness and death, these are songs of hope and resilience, of resistance and camaraderie, and a celebration of the sheer joy of living, and the power of music in its purest form.
The redemptive qualities of ‘My Little Ruin’ and the bounce and verve of songs such as ‘Lowly Deserter’ and ‘McCormick’s Wall’ are given a new lease of life in front of a rapt and attentive audience.
‘Falling Slowly’ is, for me, one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and never fails to connect with the heart of an audience. Glen’s voice is strong, soft, and tender in an exquisite five and a half minutes of a pure unbridled declaration of love. The wishful salutations of ‘Winning Streak’ are followed by the plea for self-redemption that is ‘My Little Ruin’, a wondrous ode to a friend fallen on hard times. A song that could be addressed, and give succor to many people in these difficult times.
There are pathos and humour aplenty. Tales of his father working hard to put money on the table for the family, and his liking for a “jar or two” which might mean the introduction of “Druncles” to the house – strangers his dad had befriended in the pub and in good-mannered inebriation, invited back to the house for a week or two, “until they’re back on their feet again”.
The band continues to provide the perfect backing to the lovely ‘Bird Of Sorrow’. Peadar O’Riada is given the stage in a fine piano recital of ‘Aisling Gheal’ before Glen rips into a stunning version of Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’. Finishing with the incessant charms of ‘Her Mercy’, it’s hard not to find the feet dancing even as I’m typing this.
When there’s sugar on the old spoon, let’s do that two-step around your front room and when you’re ready for her mercy and you’re worthy, it will come.
All proceeds of the album’s sales will go to Inner City Helping Homeless who work with the homeless and dispossessed in Dublin.; an act of generosity so in sync with the spirit of the man, a man who has walked the walk in terms of advancing the issue of homelessness to a national debate, through his activism, in the area. If you are interested, I would recommend you watch ‘Shelter Me’; an amazing documentary into the taking of a government-owned building, Apollo House, and turning it into a hostel for the homeless, by Glen Hansard and a group of activists.
In the liner notes, Glen states:
I know a recording of a concert is a pale substitute for the real thing, but we’re all living on morsels right now.
He’s only half right. Far from being a morsel, ‘Live at the Sydney Opera House’ is a glorious slice of the man in his element, a veritable musical feast, and a balm for the soul in these strange days.