On Saturday night in the dying throes of Adelaide’s so-called ‘Mad March’, Her Majesty’s Theatre played host to a one-off performance as part of the Adelaide Festival program. Billed as Glen Hansard with the Frames and celebrating the intense and eclectic live performer’s debut solo release, Rhythm and Repose, the big old performance space (it seats 1009) rose to the occasion. Her Majesty’s has an intimate feel from the stalls, in spite of its cavernous height, enhanced by womb-red furnishings and (massive) olde-worlde chandeliers; a fitting venue for what promised to be an interesting evening.
A lone female musician enters the darkened theatre, her petite presence gracing a stage clearly pre-set for many more performers. Within a matter of songs this guitar-wielding songstress has succeeded in warming the crowd. After the first three tunes she introduces herself as Lisa Hannigan, an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She’s delicately unassuming (and has released two albums since launching her solo career in 2007: Sea Sew and Passenger) and by the end of her 40 minute set she’s showing us all how to rock out in ballet slippers.
It’s an Irish, ethereal, sweetly folkish precursor to the main Irish act and it’s for him that the crowd wait expectantly, juiced and ready. Finally, after interval, Glen Hansard takes to the stage; bedecked in double denim and sporting one of those beanies with a nipple-like quality at its apex (that he thankfully discards before breaking into verse) it’s clear Hansard and his fans are ready for a rollicking evening.
Right from the get-go Hansard doesn’t disappoint, belting out tunes accompanied by an 11 piece ensemble comprising current members of his long-standing band The Frames and a contingent of local talent who form a brass and a string section. It’s a very full stage, fabulously decadent; adding a dimension to the soulful folk that is Hansard’s signature style and yet at times weirdly cacophonic, a chaos of noise at odds with the amount of clear talent represented on the stage.
What unfolds is a night of extremes. Amidst clunky, intrusive lighting Hansard takes his time wooing the crowd with stories, both spoken and sung. The veteran singer-songwriter showcases his well-rounded talent for emoting in quiet, sweetly reflective tones and unapologetic, ear-splitting angst. Both ends of the Hansard spectrum are gut-wrenching and more often than not the topic is love. At one point, in a quiet moment between songs, a woman in the audience yells ‘Hey Glen. Your honesty touches my soul!’
The show has moments of true whimsical brilliance, among them a recreation with Lisa Hanningan of the gorgeous (2007 Academy Award Winner for Best Original Song) ‘Falling Slowly’, from Hansard’s 2005 movie, Once. Glen’s honesty however, fails to touch this reviewer’s soul. On the whole, it feels like a lengthy evening of meandering musical self- indulgence, a one-off event strictly for fans; and to their credit, at the end of a two hour set (and from frighteningly uncomfortable seats) they stand to ovate. This in turn prompts a 20-minute (plus) encore from Hansard and the collection of musicians on stage who are clearly having a fabulous time.
Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5
Glen Hansard
With The Frames
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
16 March
Adelaide Festival 2013
www.adelaidefestival.com.au
1 – 17 March
