Friday night I went to see one of my favorite live bands, the Frames. They’re from Ireland and they’ve been around forever, but they’re only now starting to get any kind of attention here in the States.  That attention consists of college radio playing a song or two from their latest album.

Still, it was enough for them to play a slightly bigger venue in LA than they did last time. And the crowd *loved* them, but you sort of have to. They’re just so good live.

The opener was a singer-songwriter I’ve wanted to check out for awhile, because I hear a lot about him, Josh Ritter. He was really good. The DJ from KCRW who introduced him said he was the most brilliant songwriter around right now, she even invoked the name of Bob Dylan. So I was listening extra close to his set. I don’t know if I’d say he’s quite that good, but I’m definitely wanting to check out his music now.

There were some big JR fans there, one guy called out, "I’m here just to see you!" And another one yelled, "Oh my Josh!" (Like he was saying "Oh my God.") He was really overwhelmed by the warm reception and just smiled and  laughed the whole set. It’s always great to watch someone perform who is obviously enjoying it.

I thought he was from Ireland, or possibly Seattle, but it turns out he’s from Idaho. He asked if anyone there was from Idaho and one person cheered. He said something about how they entirely missed grunge out in Idaho, and commented on wearing flannel shirts with sawdust on them because that’s how they came when you bought them. I looked at my friend who was with me, who I’d gone to junior and high school with in Seattle, and said, "So did we."

I’ll post a song of his to the radio.blog that’s is downloadable from his website, "Kathleen."

The Frames opened with my current favorite song of theirs, "Finally." I kept thinking, now what am I going to call out a request for? I couldn’t think of a single song I’d want to hear, because I wanted to hear anything and everything. All of their songs are amazing live. The singer, Glen Hansard, is a real showman. His personality is strong and very evident on the stage. He gets the audience involved often–directing them to sing, usually. Their music is moody, it builds to loud crescendos, it’s quiet,  it’s emotional, it’s intense, it’s perfect for sing-alongs.

In case any fans come across this, they did (not sure these are in correct order):

Finally

Dream Awake

Lay Me Down

What Happens the the Heart . . .

God Bless Mom

Falling Slowly

Untitled but chorus went: "No More I Love Yous"

Pavement Song

Fake

Your Face

Revelate

Friends and Foe

Encore:

Keepsake

Star Star/Pure imagination/Run (Snow Patrol )/Beautiful Widow

Glen solo : Leave

Red Chord / Here Comes the Night

When they came out for their encore, Glen introduced "Keepsake," and I thought Oh yeah, this is the song Ishould’ve been yelling for. One of my faves. Glen introduced it by saying it might be an inappropriate time to do it, but they were going to play it. It’s a song that is long, quiet, and builds to this great loud crescendo. Unfortunately, some people right behind me were talking really loudly through the first half of the song–which is the quiet part. I turned around and glared and they stopped.

"Star Star" is a crowd favorite. It’s a cute song, good for singing along with. They’ve always gone into a bit from (the original) Willy Wonka during it–the violinist plays a riff, then Glen always quotes a line from the movie, and sings, "Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination." This time, after that (later in the song), the bassist started singing "Run" by Snow Patrol–"Light up, light up, as if you had a choice…" It was awesome. (Snow Patrol being a fellow Irish band.) At the end, Glen sang some lines about a beautiful widow, but I don’t know the reference.

After that, Glen did a solo acoustic song that he co-wrote with Damien Rice when the Frames were on tour with him a couple years ago, called "Leave." It definitely had the marks of a Damien Rice song. I’m pretty sure he said he’d never done it live before. It was really awesome.

They did Red Chord last, and went into Van Morrison near the end of it. It was perfect.

They’re touring the States and Canada right now, and if you like bands with a lot of emotional intensity, don’t miss them. I’m hoping they’re finally going to take off in the US now. It may be your last chance to see them at a small venue.

I’ll post a couple songs to the radio.blog.