Support: Mark Geary with Grainne Hunt
Setlist: Bird of Sorrow, Philander, Just to Be the One, Winning Streak, My Little Ruin, How Did We Forget* (El Perro Del Mar), When Your Mind’s Made Up, Leave**, Present Tense** (Pearl Jam), Come Away to the Water***, Vigilante Man (Woody Guthrie), McCormack’s Wall, Lowly Deserter, Wedding Ring****, Paying My Way, High Hope, Don’t Do It***** (Marvin Gaye/The Band), Star Star – Christmastime in the Mountains (Palace Songs), Her Mercy, 930 / White Sulphur (Jason Molina), Falling Slowly, It Beats Me***** (Mark Geary) – Into the Mystic***** (Van Morrison), Passing Through******, The Auld Triangle******* (Brendan Behan)
*Romy on lead vocals, Glen back up
**Glen solo
***with Grainne
****Curtis on vocals
*****Simon on guitar
*****with Mark
******verses from Glen, Rob and Brad
******verses from Glen, Rob, Brad, Romy, Michael on sax, Earl, Simon, Leon, Fiacre and an audience member
[Thanks to Fleur for the setlist, notes & photos.]
Band: Glen Hansard (guitar, mandolin, piano), Rob Bochnik (guitar, mandolin, bozouki), Brad Albetta (bass), Earl Harvin (drums), Romy (piano), Michael Buckley (saxophone, flute), Ronan Dooney (trumpet), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), Jeanie Lim (viola), Simone Vitucci (cello)
Review: Gaffa (in Danish)
Notes (by Fleur):
A stone’s throw away from the seaside docks at at an intimate Danish venue seems to be a very appropriate spot for a man who loves the sea and his band. Maybe it’s the bright blue skies or the sea breeze coming in from the Bay of Aarhus but the mood is high and contagious.
Train can be described as part music venue, part nightclub. There’s a compact stage with an area for the audience to stand in front but surrounding that area are chairs, tables and booths for punters to take in the proceedings in a more relaxed state. I am not sure about the neon red lights adorning the walls and floors, but it creates a certain ambiance that cannot be denied.
Here are some tidbits from the show:
* Mark Geary with Grainne Hunt have been opening up for the first leg of the Didn’t He Ramble Euro tour. Mark and Glen have been brother troubadours for a good twenty years so it feels like there’s a family vibe to the proceedings. Mark runs through some tracks from his four studio records with gorgeous backing vocals from Grainne (check out her debut solo record ‘Firing Pin’ released on 23 October 2015). My highlights are a rocking ‘Tuesday‘ and a spirited version of ‘Ghosts’. Warm appreciation is shown by the audience to Mark’s tunes and I’m looking forward to the release of Mark’s new record which is due in the early part of 2016.
* Glen opens his set with ‘Bird of Sorrow’ – which is somewhat different to the norm. A quiet start is a good way to gauge an audience and it bodes well for the rest of evening that the crowd is attentive and and appreciative right off the bat.
* Everyone loves a good cover, and Glen introduces the first of the evening by explaining that the band tried to put a version of this tune together the other night on stage in Stockholm as a local tribute (given that it is a song by a Swedish artist – El Perro Del Mar) but as it was a spontaneous idea it just didn’t quite come together. They have, however, fine tuned a version in sound check today and they quietly ease into a sultry version of ‘How Did We Forget’ which is lead by Romy on vocals with back up from Glen. Glen asks the crowd to let the Swedes know they nailed the cover tonight – albeit a day later than planned!
* My personal highlight of the evening comes from the solo part of the set. After ‘Leave’, Simon comes out with a lyric sheet and Glen launches into a stunning acoustic version of Pearl Jam’s ‘Present Tense’. I am delighted to hear Glen cover this amazing tune, not simply because I am a long-time PJ fan but also because this song is personally very important to me. We all have songs that remind us of people and times gone by – this is one those songs for me and to hear Glen play it with such raw intensity was nothing short of amazing.
* Glen gets his uke on next with a duo of songs from the small instrument (which he tells us was a gift from Eddie Vedder). Grainne Hunt joins in for ‘Come Away to the Water’, and then continues with a cover of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Vigilante Man’ because “the uke wants more”. It still amazes me that such soulful tunes can come from the ‘jumpin flea’.
* Sticking with the covers theme, the band also deliver up a storming version of ‘Don’t Do It’. Glen prefaces the song by explaining that it is another tune that the new band are working their way through. Earl Harvin on drums and the brass section really stretch out here and the groove is well and truly on with hip swinging, foot-stomping enthusiasm. It sounds pretty darn good to me!
* The mood remains high and set is closed out with a last double-shot of covers – Leonard Cohen’s ‘Passing Through’ and Brendan Behan’s ‘The Auld Triangle’. Everyone both on stage and off are involved in these tunes with various verses offered up from Glen, Rob, Brad, Romy, Michael (via sax), Earl, Simon, Leon, Fiacre and an Danish audience member. It marks the end of a rollicking good time – tak venligt Aarhus!