22 September 2012 // Cincinnati, OH // Taft Theatre

Support: The Lost Brothers

Main Set: The Storm, It’s Coming, You Will Become, Talking with the Wolves, Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting – Respect (Aretha Franklin), Philander, When Your Mind’s Made Up, Low Rising, Bird of Sorrow, Leave*, In These Arms*, Back Broke*, Astral Weeks (Van Morrison)* – Smile (Pearl Jam)*, Queen of Hearts (The Mary Janes), Moving On, New Song (Flute Jam), This Gift, High Hope, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (Willie Nelson), Fitzcarraldo, Revelate

Encore: Say it to Me Now*, Gold (Interference)**, Small Town Talk (Bobby Charles), Please Please Please (James Brown), Passing Through (Dick Blakeslee/Leonard Cohen)

*Glen solo
**Glen and Colm

Band: Glen Hansard, Colm Mac Con Iomaire (violin), Joe Doyle (bass), Rob Bochnik (guitar), Graham Hopkins (drums), Justin Carroll (keys)

Brass: Steven Bernstein, Erik Lawrence, Curtis Fowlkes

Strings: Andra Makulans, Teddy Rankin Parker

Preview: City Beat

(poster by BMethe)

Notes: On this night, Cincinnati is bustling with activity due to hosting the Reds baseball playoffs and the country’s largest Oktoberfest celebration. The Lost Brothers come out telling tales of their first baseball game the previous day and there’s no shortage of stories during Glen’s set. Early on in the show, Glen shares how he visited a local barber shop earlier in the day to get his hair trimmed up. The old Italian barber insisted on giving him a “medium” and only cut half of his head before telling him he was finished. Glen enlisted the help of Justin and Curtis in evening out the other side. Then Glen dedicated ‘Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting’ to the barber. Glen changes the lyric in ‘Low Rising’ to “German beer” as a shout-out to Oktoberfest, which is happening on the street in front of the venue. After that song, someone shouts out from the back of the room “DONEGAL! MAYO!”. Glen asks, “Which is it? Donegal or Mayo?” The person has no response. Glen begins to play an Irish-sounding ditty and sings the words “Donegal or Mayo” over and over. The band joins in one by one until everyone is playing along. Simon Good joins the band to perform ‘Queen of Hearts’, which ends with Glen wishing a happy 43rd birthday to Mic Christopher. At one point in between songs, an audience member shouts out that she’s come all the way from Nashville with a present for Glen and asks if she can give it to him. It’s a rock (<strike>seemingly in the shape of Ireland?</strike> in the shape of a heart) and Glen is inspired to start playing ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’. Again the whole band joins in, and Colm sings lead for the second half of the song. At the end of ‘Fitzcarraldo’, Glen holds the next-to-last note extra long and while the rest of the band waits for him to give the nod to finish it, Glen motions for Simon to bring his electric guitar out. Glen quickly switches to it and after they play the final note he launches into ‘Revelate’ straightaway. The decision to play it seems to have been made entirely in the moment. Toward the end he grabs the Nashville Rock and sets it on the top of his guitar for the rest of the song, even using it to strum a few bars at the end. The Lost Brothers sing ‘Small Time Talk’ with the full band, including Glen on tambourine and backup vocals. Earlier in the show, Glen said his voice was feeling a bit rough from soundcheck but promises that the audience will enjoy the results later in the show. That moment comes when they play ‘Please Please Please.’ Glen introduces it by saying that it was recorded in Cincinnati at King Records (in 1956). The show ends with the band playing and singing ‘Passing Through’ as they walk up the aisle and into the lobby, then out onto the street and around the corner. *We were at this show, brilliant night, lucky we are.