On the second night of seeing Van Morrison in Belfast I managed to get a seat in the front row, right at the centre aisle. On the opposite side of the aisle was Glen Hansard.
I waited until after the show before asking him for a selfie. Emma got one too and then I had a quick chat with him about the time he jammed with Van Morrison at a party when he was around 19 years old.
Emma had told me about Courtney Marie Andrews before she played her gig in Glasgow a few months prior to supporting Glen.
I didn’t pay enough attention but when she said she was supporting Glen, I had another listen and was then regretful I didn’t as I would have went to her solo gig. I therefore wasn’t surprised at how good she was live and I had to get her album afterwards.
I never had my card with me so I got Emma to pay for it but there was a mistake with the card reader and she got charged twice. We had to go back to explain this and Emma said she’ll add a tenner and get a T-Shirt but Courtney said just to take it without paying the difference. So that worked out well.
Glen has a reputation for getting the audience involved in the show and this time was no different. He spent sections of the show chatting to the audience and at one point stopped the show for a few minutes to check if someone in the audience had recovered from a medical situation.
He then asked if anyone wanted to join him onstage and one of the two guys who were busking his songs outside the Barrowlands before the gig, leaped up immediately.
Emma recorded it all so when he put out a message the next day on instagram, Emma got in touch and made his day.
Here are a few videos I made after hearing about Glen’s death as he drove home after a late night music session in a bar in Dublin.
A few things have come to light since his passing and no doubt, some more will come out in future. I will not go into that here but may do in a video blog soon.
As a performer he certainly gave 100% and the crowd went home happy.
The Photos
Cheers!
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