#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Oh, thank goodness for the meadow this morning in the rain. The horrible shocking news, upon awaking, as I scanned the Boston Globe, of the death of Glen Hansard at 4:30 a.m. this morning, Ireland time, just outside of Dublin, in a motorcycle accident. Gutting. I’m in shock and disbelief, as is the rest of the world. And I’m only a fan. Thinking about him with grief all day. And almost twenty years ago now to the day - a rainy day in 2008 of August, August 10, when I saw Glen, and Marketa, in concert live for the first time, such a special memory. Me and my son and daughter were big fans, and even though we were staying on Martha’s Vineyard that summer, I bought tickets to see them in Northampton, MA, Western, MA, at the outdoor venue, The Pines. It was such a journey! And complicated, and so worth it! Had to get a car ferry, leave the Vineyard, (and Franci and Frank and the dogs) and then drive home, grab some stuff, and picked up my good friend’s daughter in the next town, had an extra ticket, then drive the two hours to Northampton. Then the concert—it poured! We sat under umbrellas and Glen and the band played through the rain for us! Glen was the most intimate and engaging performer. He made you feel as if he was playing for YOU. And he was determined to give us the concert we came for, and he did. We were soaking wet and starving. We had the two hour ride home, wet, in the car, late at night in the dark and rain. Did we stop for hot chocolate? Or was that an unfulfilled wish? I remember hot chocolate warming us up but I think it was just happiness of the music and the joy. We slept at home and drove back to the Vineyard the next day, and that was the first of many times I got to seem him in concert, with either my son or my daughter. And then, the Broadway show! I think I saw it four times, in NYC and Boston! Ugh. Of course, the movie. Once. Watched it so many times. I’m so sad. I walked and walked in many meadows this morning in the rain. Then I prepped for my submission workshop, met with my Israeli group, and led my workshop, which was very well received. I bought shrubs so that I can plant outdoors tomorrow in the summer rain. And I napped. And I grieved. And I fell in love with the purple vervain that was glorifying the meadow this morning by the river.
The Swell Season
Published: Aug. 11, 2008, 10:30 a.m.
This is a Wikipedia pic of Glen & Market Irglova in the studio - not connected to the 2008 Pines Performance
By Donnie Moorhouse | Special to The Republican
By Donnie Moorhouse
NORTHAMPTON _ Singer Glen Hansard made good on his promise to "sing the rain back into the sky" during the two hour performance of The Swell Season at Look Park's Pines Theater on Sunday night. The intermittent rain, held at bay by a battalion of umbrellas at the outdoor venue, became more special effect than hindrance as night fell.
Hansard and singer / pianist Marketa Irglova make up the core of the Swell Season and the cast of "Once" the film that brought the pair and their songs to prominence. The song "Falling Slowly" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. . .
