Glen Hansard @ L’Alhambra

Glen Hansard

It’s been a quiet month for me in terms of gig-going, but Glen Hansard at L’Alhambra last night was a great one for me to get the ball rolling again. First time seeing the fiery Dubliner live and it was a real treat. Sharing the stage with 12 musicians including a 3-piece string ensemble and 3-piece brass section, the genuine friendship, respect and chemistry between Hansard and his Frames cohorts is palpable from the first note, and was even extended to the Paris-based session musicians who joined them for the evening’s gig. A true storyteller, Hansard’s songs of loss and heartbreak are beautiful but far from quaint. Shit’s real and there’s some serious emotional pain there. When it’s just him and his guitar on songs like “Song of Good Hope”, which he explains was a song he wrote while a friend was on the brink of death from cancer, you simply shut up and listen (even the little voice inside my head that never ever wants to shut up did last night!).

Before things get too broody and introspective, he shares a silly anecdote or two from his early gig days in Paris when he visited Samuel Beckett‘s grave at the Cimetière du Montparnasse and left what he considered to be a “nice” pen on the writer’s tombstone, only for it to be blown away by the wind…or was it Beckett himself rejecting the offering?

Top off an already incredible evening with a very generous encore with friends rapper/beat boxer Napoleon Maddox and Lisa Hannigan, and you have one happy gig goer.

Setlist:

The Storm, It’s Coming
Talking with Wolves
Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting
Philander
When Your Mind’s Made Up
Low Rising
Bird of Sorrow
Leave
Come Away to the Water
Astral Weeks (Van Morrison cover)
High Hope
Moving On
This Gift
Fitzcarraldo
Star Star
Song of Good Hope

Encore:

Sign o’ the Times (Prince cover)
Baby Don’t You Do It (Marvin Gaye cover)
Blue Moon (duet with Lisa Hannigan)
Say It to Me Now
Falling Slowly

October 2012 Gig Guide: Gotye, Glen Hansard, Bernhoft, Bat for Lashes, Julia Stone…

October 2012 Gig Guide:

Thurs Oct 4: Bat for Lashes @ La Flèche d’Or – 8pm / 16.80€
Wed Oct 10: Fun. @ La Maroquinerie – 8pm / 25.20€
Thurs Oct 11: Lucy Rose & Jack Beauregard @ La Maroquinerie – 7:30pm / 17.80€
Mon Oct 15: Julia Stone @ La Cigale – 8pm / 34€
Tues Oct 16: Bernhoft @ Paul B (Massy) – 8:30pm / 19.80€ – 22€
Tues Oct 16: Naive New Beaters @ La Cigale – 7pm / 27.50€
Mon Oct 22: Fishbone @ New Morning – 8:30pm / 25.30€
Mon Oct 22: Jefferson Starship @ Le Bataclan – 8pm / 50€
Tues Oct 23: Glen Hansard @ L’Alhambra – 7:30pm / 23.10€
Wed Oct 31: Gotye @ Zenith – 7:30pm / 39.50€ – 45€

Can you please sign my tampon?: My starstruck misadventures with Laura Marling

Laura Marling @ Alhambra

My first face-to-face encounter with Laura Marling could have been so perfect. It could have been so cool, so… Paris. I was, after all, in a cafe sipping Sauvignon Blanc when I spot Laura and her band turning onto rue Beaurepaire after her show at L’Alhambra. This instant, my last redeeming moment as a normal, composed person would have been a good time to remember that Laura Marling is still under the illusion that I am cool. Just moments ago, I was part of her audience, and in her terse onstage banter, she admitted her admiration for Parisians because they sat in cafes drinking coffee, looking effortlessly cool. And even after an enthusiastic Frenchie threw in his suggestion, “Live in Paris!”, Laura insisted, “I can’t. I’m not cool enough.”

Oh no Laura, you are cool. You are very, very cool (and I am not, but we’ll get to that later). As far as I’m concerned, you can’t get much cooler than a 22-year-old singer-songwriter-guitarist (with three albums already under her belt) whose knack for soaring melodies and self-possessed lyrics leave you often gobsmacked. I’m a sucker for good writing, whether it’s in the form of short stories, poetry, fiction or music, and Laura’s songs actually happen to be a little bit of everything at the same time. Her beautifully crafted vignettes are often soaked in literary and theistic references, where her characters explore different perspectives on morality, relationships and life choices. Whether she is playing solo or accompanied by her musicians (last night she was accompanied by cello, double bass, keys, banjo and drums), the delivery is powerful and elegant. For someone who has spent years training her voice, it is inspiring to witness a performer achieve various layers of emotion without any fancy vocal tricks. From the ghostly whisper of a defeated lover to a steady conversational tone, she uses her voice to give the story what it requires.

Yeah she’s cool. So cool that when I had the opportunity to actually express my admiration to Laura Marling herself, I lost all composure and gumption. If we rewind to the moment where I was enjoying my last “cool” moment in a cafe post-concert, it all went downhill when my friend (who should be credited for all the concert photos in this post) caught the look on my face, shoved a camera in my hand and said “If you don’t go you’ll regret it”. I don’t usually do these kinds of things, but there I was, running after Laura Marling down rue Beaurepaire. The clanking of my heels was so clumsy and loud that Laura turned around before I caught up with her and her drummer. She smiled a nervous smile (I would think I was a freak too if I were her) and said “Hi”. And I say “Wow. This is weird. Hi Laura. Um. That was a really great show, thank you so much. Could I trouble you for an autograph?” She obliges, smiles again and asks where I am from. “New York City” “Oh cool” (yup, that’s the only cool thing about me at the moment). I fumble desperately for a pen for what seems like 300 minutes, and feel something at the bottom of my bag that is the same length of a pen but isn’t a pen and has a wrapper. It’s a tampon. (KEEP THE TAMPON IN THE BAG, FLORENCIA). At this point, even the drummer is fumbling for a pen in his satchel. If I were cool, I would have the pen handy, or better yet, I would have thought to have used the camera that was in my hand and ask for a photo with Laura.

Instead I have an autograph. Which is what you get when you lose your “cool”.

Setlist:

I Was Just a Card
The Muse
Salinas
Blackberry Stone
Ghosts
Alas I Cannot Swim
Needle and Damage Done (Neil Young Cover)
My Manic and I
Once is Enough to Break You
Goodbye England
Night After Night
Alpha Shallows
Sophia
Rambling Man
I Speak Because I Can

Catch Laura Marling on tour promoting her album A Creature I Don’t Know throughout Europe and the US. For more info, click here.