The Frames - Concert Review

The Frames

Irving Plaza, NYC

10/16/05

When a band that traditionally carries headlining festival slots back home in Ireland is bottled inside a more intimate setting, such as New York's Irving Plaza, the overflowing energy is bound to spill everywhere. And it did Sunday when The Frames, soaked with gentle sorrow and gut-growling dynamics, performed for a sold-out audience.

As adept at creating ale-house chumminess as they were navigating the stage, journeymen Glen Hansard (lead vocals/guitar), Colm MacConlomaire (fiddle), Joseph Doyle (bass/backing vocals), Robert Bochnik (guitar) and Johnny Boyle (drums) opened with "Keepsake" from the new album, "Burn the Maps." During the song, MacConlomaire's electric violin sensitively colored the quiet between Hansard's stirrings, and an odd-metered musical intensity built before the band dropped back into a mellow lull, an ebb and flow of feeling that was standard for the night. The Frames kicked up the show with a one-two punch of "Dream Awake" leading into "Finally," Hansard's Irish brogue coddling his pleas of "I want this so much.

Hansard's belief that people come to gigs to experience a moment pushed him to share transcendent ones. Inviting a sing-along in "Lay Me Down," he silenced all instruments to make room for fans to take over vocals as he grinned with satisfaction. Storytelling also personalized the performance. Hansard prefaced "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops" with a monologue about heartbreak that was so long it became humorous.

During "Fake," he pulled up his collar and swiveled his hips in a classic Elvis move as he pouted the line "You were always on my mind" with a snicker midsong.

Most effective, however, was the band's instinct for what the collective room needed at any moment, and they weren't too precious about their songs to miss the cues. When the line "I want my life to make more sense" came along in "Pavement Tune," Hansard and band followed the crowd's inclination to echo chants between chilly violin wallows.

"We can't tell you what it means to us to sell out a New York gig," Hansard said. "It's really important. The idea of playing Irving Plaza a couple of years ago was just a stupid idea, but now it makes sense."

Originally published in The Hollywood Reporter 10/18/05.