Concert Review: Glen Hansard @ 9:30 Club (4/12/26)

Glen Hansard (Photo Credit: Kalpesh Lathigra)

Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard concluded his short run of North American shows in DC, performing for a healthy two hours at the 9:30 Club on April 12^th. Next he’ll be heading off for a longer European tour.

This Don’t Settle tour is promoting an upcoming two-volume record collection comprised of live reinterpretations of many of the best songs of his solo career. It has the healthy title of Don+t Settle – Transmissions East & West (via Plateau/Secretly Distribution).

Margaret Glaspy opened, performing solo with just her guitar and evocative voice. I saw her perform with a full band (opening for Spoon in 2022) also at the 9:30 Club, and the contrast is interesting, both performances are worthy. Her set proved to be the perfect segue to Glen’s mix of introspective and powerfully expressive songs.

Aside from his solo work, Glen is also known as the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames and for his collaboration with Markéta Irglová called The Swell Season (made famous from 2007’s romantic musical Once). He performed two songs by The Frames and three by The Swell Season on this epic 21-song journey. He also did three other covers, including one by the band Interference, another Irish band that Glen has recorded songs and performed with. A man of many talents and projects.

Glen and his backing band kicked off the set with “Don’t Settle” (apropos to everything) from his 2019 album This Wild Willing. As the title may suggest, the song is about not giving in to apathy and not ceding back the gains you’ve made, while remaining true to yourself in life.

A bit later Glen performed solo “Say It to Me Now” (from the movie Once) with just his acoustic guitar and his voice in a quiet roar. He transitioned seamlessly into another song from the Once soundtrack by the band Interference titled “Gold”, about love so powerful you would not trade it even for gold. As the song built, the band members returned for the crescendo of the chorus, ‘well, I’m walking on moonbeams and staring out to sea.’ Glen can really reach the rafters with his voice, and the band’s big sound left little doubt about the kind of show we were about to witness.

There were four additional musicians as part of his backing band, comprised of Rob Bochnik (guitar) from The Frames, Joseph Doyle (bass), Piero Perelli (drums), and Rose Droll (keyboards/piano), whom they had just met 10 days prior. Rose also performed solo for one song with vocals and keyboards. I didn’t catch the song’s name.

Rocking the perfect black fisherman beanie, Glen seemed especially chuffed to be performing in DC. He whispered conspiratorially to us with raised eyebrows, ‘THE 9:30 Club.’ For nearly every song he switched out his guitar, I counted at least four different guitars, including his cedar acoustic guitar that he played most. Someone in the crowd yelled ‘Nice guitar!’ when he starting plucking at the beautiful cherry colored Guild Starfire IV. A simple smile and a nod, and then back to the business of making stirring and often melancholy notes.

They dropped a riff from Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” as a precursor to “The Feast of St. John”. However, Glen laughed it off and decided to share a couple stories. He told us that they were in New York City for a show the previous night, and he woke up to the sound of a band playing “War Pigs” outside his window in support of a marathon’s festivities. ‘They got their 15 minutes of fame at 9:30am!’ Then he shared how he wrote “The Feast of St. John” for his neighbor that doesn’t like music. (Note: He jokingly asked us to please not post about it because he didn’t want the neighbor to see, as they are good friends. If the neighbor sees this, sincere apologies.) His neighbor talks about the birds of bad weather, the invisible enemy in your pocket, and speaks to all the bile of the day (aka news, conspiracy theories, etc.). One time he lost a fork and Glen went over to his home for the first time to help him look for it. His neighbor had a single light bulb that he would switch out each time he went to a new room. Glen said he was never going back over there, but the song speaks to not embracing the bad when you can avoid it, ‘And oh don’t go down when you’re lit on by sorrow, oh don’t take that shit on’. I think it is a grander lesson for all of us in our current situation. Later Glen also expressed real affection for the outspoken stance that Bruce Springsteen has taken recently, speaking out against hate and threats to democracy. Before “Great Weight” (a The Swell Season song), he said that he was ‘blown away’ that ‘Bruce is taking no prisoners’.

At one point Glen took a request for “Falling Slowly” (another Swell Season song) from a young kid. It speaks to taking a chance on love, even when the seas are rough. It is still probably my favorite song by Glen. Good job, kid.

They ended the main set with a cover of Pete Seeger’s “Passing Through”. Margaret returned to the stage and each musician sang a verse. Everyone except the drummer had a turn, first Glen, then Margaret, then Joesph, then Rob, each adding a different vitality to its message. The song captures something important, maintaining our humanity and integrity, especially as we move through the phases of life.

For the encore, when they came back Glen asked for suggestions. After about a million different shouts, he finally just conceded saying, ‘What an amazing range of requests. Beautiful!’ before ignoring everyone and diving into a cover of “Gloria”, written by Irish singer Van Morrison (for his band Them). Unfazed, everyone say along heartily, and later shuffled out of the 9:30 Club slightly richer with experience and musical cachet.

Don+t Settle – Transmissions East & West comes out on April 24^th, so be ready! But you can always pick up from your favorite music buying situation any of Glen’s five solo albums, or any of the four The Swell Season albums, or even the eight The Frames albums. The sky is the limit!

Setlist