It was a dark and stormy night! Yes, it was, but it was also a wonderful night of music as Swell Season and Josh Ritter (solo) blessed us with their music last night at the Pines Theater in Northampton. Josh came on first, just as the skies opened up for the first time. His ever-present humor helped us survive a pretty good downpour. He said he didn't have too many precipitation songs and sang "Snow Is Gone" and as well as "Girl in the War," with its lyrics "They sparkle bubble over, in the morning all you got is rain." As usual he told his humorous tales -- of walking in the morning and seeing the eyes of dogs and a goat (!?) in the dark and of singing songs to the potatoes in his basement. Josh finished up with Springsteen's "The River" and "Kathleen" (of course). He's just an absolute pleasure to listen to in concert.
Then the Swell Season, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, came out and the rain stopped for a while. Their voices mesh so well together, he's definitely the fire to her, well, not ice, but soaring beautiful voice. When Marketa sings, you just have to take notice. They ended their set with a song called Fitzcarraldo, a Frames tune, that was just spectacular. They also did a Van Morrison cover.
For the encore, Marketa came out did a solo song on the piano, then Glen invited up some local musician he had met on his first trip to Northampton with the Frames. (the guy's name is Mark Schwaber; his his recounting of the night is HERE) They finished up inviting Josh back on stage to sing "Come and Find Me" in three-part beautiful harmony. A great, if soggy night!
For more pics, click HERE. For a clip of Swell Season's performance, click HERE.
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