This was a delightful show of many unusual and unexpected parts. It began with the two principals — Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova — kneeling on the floor, huddled together round a single microphone, singing Fallen from the Sky. This gentle, whimsical folk ballad was written by Hansard for the soundtrack of the 2007 film Once, in which he and Irglova starred as a romantically entwined couple, a union that subsequently spilt over into real life. While their relationship has since reverted to a platonic musical partnership, it was immediately apparent that there was an extraordinary chemistry between these two versatile performers from contrasting backgrounds, who have now released their third album together, Strict Joy.
Hansard, 39, was, and still is, the singer, guitarist and main songwriter of the Irish folk-rock group the Frames, a man with a rogue sparkle in his eye and busking blood in his veins. Irglova, 21, is a Czech singer, pianist and songwriter with a more formal and introverted musical nature. The show encompassed them performing individually and together in various combinations with and without a supporting cast of musicians on bass, drums, guitar and violin.
Hansard led the way through a string of folk-tinged songs — In These Arms, The Rain, The Moon — filled with rare emotional impact. A sensational version of Tim Buckley’s Buzzin’ Fly began as a harmony duet, but was gradually taken over by Hansard’s incredibly percussive guitar playing. His favourite acoustic guitar had holes gouged through the bodywork where you might expect a scratchplate to be, and watching him flailing the strings in a long sweeping arc on this and other songs you could see why. His voice was deceptively powerful as well, as he demonstrated by singing Say It to Me Now without the aid of a microphone.
Although somewhat eclipsed by Hansard’s robust air of self-confidence, Irglova took the lead on her own songs, including If You Want Me and Fantasy Man, singing in a clear nightingale’s soprano that provided a welcome yin to Hansard’s blokeish yang.
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Always ready with a witty comment or genial aside, Hansard built an easy rapport with the audience, coaching them in the backing vocal parts before the start of several numbers with surprisingly tuneful results. Two hours flew by and the show came full circle as Hansard and Irglova began a string of encores alone together with a spine-tingling version of Falling Slowly, the song from Once that won them an Oscar.