The Irish singer-songwriter played a gig at the Hollywood Bowl the other night and was left fuming when his set was stopped by the event organisers.
The Academy Award-winning singer was the headline act, supported by The Head and The Heart and Iron & Wine.
The event seemed a little disjointed all night, with sound problems and audience participation waning from song to song. The Bowl is one of those music venues where people stay seated, those who don’t are met with jeers, boos and scorn from fellow audience members.
The attitude of patrons is, if you want to dance, go do it in the aisle, so you don’t obstruct my view of the stage. Dancing did break out during the The Head and The Heart set, in the ‘cheap seats’, but venue ushers quickly swooped in and broke up any fun. Fans rocking out to the indie rockers were, politely asked to return to their seats, while the stuffy audience members tutted their disapproval.
Finally, the main man, Glen Hansard took to the stage. He opened with a cover of Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks,’ strumming away on his iconic beat up Takamine guitar.
Hansard was accompanied by a full 12 piece band, complete with a horn section, a string trio and an electric fiddler. The Irish singer continued his song covers, performing Marvin Gaye’s ‘Baby Don’t You Do It.’ He also did a mash-up of his 2012 track ‘Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting’ and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect.’
However, just as the band finished Baby Don’t You Do It, there was an uneasiness on stage, as the musicians shuffled around whispering to each other. Eventually, Hansard walked up to the microphone and in a stunned voice said “there’s a f**king clock on the floor that says ‘you’re finished.’ Excuse me, I’m Irish.”
Hansard, is known for routinely playing three hour sets, he was cut off an hour into his set. He played a rushed version of ‘McCormick’s Wall,’ apologised and said that he’d be back to play a proper, three-hour concert.
On stage, Glen was noticeably angry and frustrated at the situation. The crowd was left unsatisfied and boos began to rain down from the audience. Twitter blew up with angry fans complaining about the ridiculous treatment of the Irish main event.
So Upset at the @HollywoodBowl for cutting @Glen_Hansard short! How dare you??!!!!
— Agatha Altarovici (@gingerhell) August 11, 2014
@HollywoodBowl what happened tonight? @Glen_Hansard‘s set was too short and he didn’t seem to be aware of the curfew! #bummed #needmoreglen
— Grace Ko (@GraceKeaux) August 11, 2014
Hollywood Bowl, you’re mad for not letting Glen Hansard and crew play on. It was a marvelous night for a moon dance, even.
— Lori Snyder (@lorchevsky) August 11, 2014
Apparently the Hollywood Bowl has a notoriously strict curfew. The set times were somehow miscommunicated to the bands, it appears that The Head and The Heart, ended up playing a longer set than the headliner Hansard.
Glen Hansard ended up playing only one Swell Season song and didn’t have any time to play many fan favorites from Rhythm and Response and the Once soundtrack.
