FREE VINYLS - SHOW REVIEW: Glen Hansard live in New Zealand by Tall Kiwi Chick

So our good ol pal Tall Kiwi Chick turned us on to to this great folk singer Glen Hansard recently and we were looking up his tour dates and sure enough nothing in Detroit so we said

"rack em girlie - you are flying to see him on the old MCB credit card!!!"

After the midnight run from Christchurch to Auckland she came back with some pics and a review and we convinced his label to give away a few vinyl records for your home listening pleasure as part of the promo and we hope to see Glen on this side of the world soon

TALL KIWI CHICK was a winner in one of our contests for free tickets

and of course we chatted it up a bit and met up with her and her crew at the show.

After knocking back a few cold ones we were fast friends and thick as thieves.
Anyway - we thought it would nice to get some insight about good ol dietroit

from someone with a bit different perspective so we created this column

After a year or so living in the states and running the streets for MCB
the gals from DOWNUNDER DETROIT reluctantly had to return to Christchurch NZ
but they have been reporting on various things KIWI from time to time
and will be visiting the motorcity again and again and again

She loves music, men & drinking

"She's Sweet As!"

DOWNUNDER DETROIT

BY Tall Kiwi Chick

photos/sidekick coolness by Lauretta West

So OH MY GOD. 

What a fucking AWESOME show!!!!

Glen Hansard with The Frames, and Lisa Hannigan supporting.

When I saw online that Glen Hansard was going to be playing at the Auckland Town Hall, I knew I had to be there. Not only is it a small venue, but when I checked my work roster, I had that day off!! 

I asked everyone I knew, and managed to talk my older brothers and sister in laws to fly up to Auckland with me for 1 night, so we could all go listen to Glen, (I also had secret plans to Marry him, but this didn’t happen once I realized he was far too short, but I still have very strong feelings for him).

(I am VERY tall so it probably wouldn't have work out anyway)

 

WELL BLOODY WORTH IT!!!

Now it seems Glen Hansard isn’t as well known as he should be. While I’ve been bragging to most people I’ve come in contact with lately, they haven’t had a clue. Unless their Irish. So let me run through this for you..

 

I discovered him when watching the movie “Once”. He is an Irish Singer Songwriter that has been playing as part of “The Frames” for the past 22 years. His voice is amazing, and when he sings, like very few other singers, it flows directly into my soul.  After the popularity from the Movie “Once” a Documentary was released called “The Swell Season” which gave a very interesting view of Life on Tour. I also recommend you watch this, if you can hunt it down! He also starred in “The Commitments” – I know, I’ve must rewatch that movie! And lastly keep a look out for The Frames Documentary being released soon!!

 

So back to this show… 4 Shots and 3 Beers before the show, along with my eldest brothers Disapproval, I was  READY for this!!

Lisa Hannigan, who I hadn’t heard of before the show, opened the show. Her voice was beautiful, and I was immediately consumed by her voice and melodic songs. She sang mostly solo switching between Ukulele & Acoustic Guitar. I have since downloaded her album “Passenger”. Turns out she’s been around for many years..  Damn secretive Irish…

 

Glen & The Frames came out around 9pm, and I was not disappointed!! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO HIM! He was amazing. He chatted at length between songs, showing us he was happy to be here & happy to play, which of course added to the goodness of the show. He sang songs with The Frames, he sang some songs acoustically,  

He even sang without a microphone for “Say it to me now” and HOLY SHIT it was amazing. He sang covers from Marvin Gaye & Gladys Knight, and played the longest encore I think I’ve ever heard! One of the many Irish people in the crowd handed him a huge Irish Flag, and so he sang around the stage with the flag around his shoulders. The drummer impressed me so much, especially at the end when he went Hard Out, that I vowed I would blow the dust of my own set of drums, and have a play. 

Glen at times also played his guitar so hard that the strings were noticeably breaking, but it sounded good! After each song during the encore, the cheering would start and Glen would say ‘One more…” you could see he did not want to leave the stage! He ended the show at Midnight (That was 3 hours of music!!) with Leonard Cohen's “passing through” and the whole band (And did I mention they had about 10 people on stage!) stepped off the stage and sang in a line right around the whole venue!! 

I left on such a high. It was one of the best concerts I’ve been too, and I’ve been to many!  And I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert that finished at midnight. Great at the time, but not great when I had to wake up at 4am to catch up flight back to Christchurch!

 

So PLEASE rent/buy the movie “ONCE”. That is all I ask.  Glen Hansard is AMAZING and it’s wrong that is not more well known.

Get to his website and buy everything!

http://www.glenhansardmusic.com/

Email motorcityblog@earthlink.net for your shot at a fresh off the press vinyl

of Glen's latest release Rhythm and Repose