Glen Hansard’s blistering Sydney Opera House concert is coming out on vinyl and download

Live performances by Oscar-winning Irish singer songwriter Glen Hansard have reached almost legendary status and you can see why with a new album of his 2016 Sydney concert

Glen Hansard and Joy Byrne performing at the Sydney Opera House in 2016. Picture: Ken Leanfore

• Great night for the Irish
• Master storyteller’s joyful bash
• Sleighbells with tacos
• New songs for new times

Live performances by Oscar-winning Irish singer songwriter Glen Hansard have reached almost legendary status over the years and fans will be able to recapture some of the magic with the impending release of a double album of his 2016 concert at Sydney Opera House.

Core members of his band The Frames joined him for what I described in my review at the time as a “great night of blistering passion and tall stories”. Other guests included a choir of back-up singers, a Muscle Shoals-style horn section starring trombonist and vocalist Curtis Fowlkes and a small string section. The tour was to promote his Didn’t He Ramble album but the material ranged far and wide over his impressive repertoire, as well as a drop-dead version of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks with Frames bassist Joe Byrne.

Other highlights of the concert included a mini-set by Irish folk pianist Peadar O Riada and a welter of encores to please his ecstatic audience.

Glen Hansard's new album Live At Sydney Opera House.

Hopefully these are all included in the forthcoming release – which initially will be out of double vinyl and download, with a physical CD to follow in the new year.

And his 2016 album wasn’t called Didn’t He Ramble for nothing – Hansard is one of the best and most hilarious storytellers around, whether he’s describing a hangover, an encounter with Woody Guthrie’s guitar in an Oklahoma museum or climbing over the wall of great Irish tenor John McCormack’s home on a drunken whim. Just how much of these yarns will be captured on the new album remains to be seen.

Glen Hansard: Live at the Sydney Opera House is available from December 18. Pre-order digitally and on limited edition coloured vinyl at store.dublinvinyl.com/glenhansard

Profits from sales of this album have been earmarked to support ICHH (Inner City Helping Homeless), an Irish organisation offering aid in Dublin.