Truly momentous live performances find artists purging veiled emotions that take the audience on a ride of the senses evoking internal thought and dialogue. A few weeks back at the Vic Theater in Chicago, Glen Hansard of the Swell Season (and the Frames) strode on stage with nothing but his guitar and a need to convey. As he began to sing "Say It To Me Now", one could feel the hairs stand up on the back of their neck. The song starts as a pensive exercise before the emotions boil over into a crescendo of intensity as if he was a character from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' who just had his heart removed by someone's bare hands. This wasn't an embellished performance but one full of genuineness. The Swell Season, unlike most of the artists I see live every year, don't perform music for ego, excess or money, but because they need to.

I experienced the motion picture, 'Once' this past June. I use the world "experience" because I don't believe that one could merely watch this film and not find it transcendental. I immediately sought out the soundtrack after the film and fell in love with it. Little did I know the story behind these two artists was just as engrossing? Glen Hansard has made a name for himself as one of the leaders in the Irish band, The Frames and has known Markéta Irglová since she was a teenager. Eventually, as she grew older, these two began to collaborate and eventually, the end result wound up being the film 'Once' and the creation of the Swell Season. These two individuals don't just enrapture us on screen but on stage as well. They are touring together under the name of the Swell Season and wrapped their tour with two sold-out nights in Chicago. Before the release of the film, both artists wouldn't find it unlikely to perform in front of a few dozen people, but in Chicago the 2,600 seats available were sold-out and nonexistent on the secondary market. Over the course of 100 enlightening minutes, the Swell Season delivered a show with understated perfection. Every night around the world, thousands of talented musicians pick up their instruments in the hopes that they connect with a handful of people who hear their stories and songs and on this once in a lifetime concert, the Swell Season didn't just inspire, they radiated truthfulness.

After Hansard's ferocious opening performance he was joined by Markéta Irglová for a duet of "All The Way Down" which was performed with off-hand grace. As the show continued, each performance proved to be effortless and hypnotic. As the other three members who make up the Swell Season joined them on stage, Marketa took her place at the piano and as the pensive "Lies" began, you could hear a pin drop in the audience. There are audiences who are disengaged and others who quietly respect the art, tonight was the latter. You can literally feel your stomach twist up from the ache in their voices. The entire 1,300 in capacity were completely enraptured by these five musicians. The second the song ended, the place roared and came to life. The show continued with the unpretentious "This Low", the beguiling "When Your Mind's Made Up", and the beautifying "Once" proving these harmonic songs are just as powerful and resonating as they were on screen. The stage set up was minimal, five people, six instruments, two microphones, a handful of amps and speakers and pure unbridled passion and purpose.

Watching these two musicians was awe inspiring because these are a pair of musicians who perform and create because there is no other choice for them. Their art dictates their lives and whether a film like 'Once' had ever been made, they would be doing this somewhere whether there were 1,300 in attendance or just 13. Hansard joked that they used to personally know every person who came to their shows. It almost made me feel guilty for not taking notice of their music until seeing them on celluloid.

Hansard was wildly humorous and you can immediately feel his realness while listening to his banter . His on stage persona is most likely exactly like his off-stage one; cool, laid back and witty. This was particularly evident on the new song, "Heartstrings", which has only been performed a handful of times. It's surprisingly simplistic and literally pulls on your heartstrings (no pun intended). Hansard summed it up as being about "If you f**k with people, then you will get f**ked". An alternate title for this song is "My Heart Got A Monkey For A Brain" and he wasn't joking. The picturesque storytelling lyric was performed with a peek-a-boo vibrancy and was devoid of maudlin creakiness. His comments before "Moving Slowly" (which can be found on the self-titled album, 'The Swell Season') were uproarious. "This is about a three-legged dog that has cancer and is on a sinking ship…but ultimately they are optimistic". Ironically, the song wasn't tongue in cheek, but one whose lyrics "words fall through me" cut to the bone. Their music found a voice and the crowd's voices swelled in succession providing a spine tingling moment that was nothing short of perfection. Each song over the course of the evening was a pinch me till I bleed moment because nothing on Earth should be this real or transcendent.

Before the pensive "Leave", Hansard shared stories about the tough crowd the night before, how the Frames were reborn in Chicago and about a woman who wrote to him after their performance in Chicago last July and offered up one her late husbands guitars. This occurred because the woman felt the guitar Hansard was playing had seen better days. As he sang, spoke and joked it became evident that Hansard is a musician who is intensely thankful to be able to make music for a living. As he came near a crescendo on "Leave" and hit that higher octave, the hearts of the audience ascended as well. Nothing about the Swell Season was the least bit calculated or cold making it all that much more authentic.

As Hansard straddled an electric guitar, he effortlessly gave a spellbinding performance of "Pavement Song" which he introduced as "I Want My Life to Make More Sense", a song recorded by his band, The Frames. Ironically, it was written in a fit of hate as their record company asked for a hit single and ironically, he channeled that aggression into a perfect song that could make anyone smile. He apologized for cursing every once in a while and had an on-going joke of "What would Bruce do?" in reference to how Bruce Springsteen eloquently speaks about his music. Even his performance of "Fake" segued into Tina Turner's "Private Dancer" as he provided a remedy for wanting to get unnecessary songs out of your head. "Sing 'Private Dancer' and it will leave your head"…and ironically, he's right. As Hansard closed his solo set, he tore through Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" with a vengeance. Morrison is one of the greatest lyricists of all time and Hansard's fervent performance induced a wall of sound climaxing in a tormented yet severe vocal howl. Hansard slashed through the emotional wall that holds so many performers back providing what was potentially a definitive performance as he sells the song better than Morrison because the lyrics bled from his soul. With a mere guitar he made a sound larger than a symphony through the pure power of passion. He alone could hold the attention of a football stadium; this is how transcendent and devastating this performance was.

Another Frames song, "Star, Star" received the Swell Season treatment as they found a way to segue "O Holy Night" into the song which was accentuated by the miraculous string section. This elegiac version of "Star, Star" was stunningly somber and reflective. One can only hope this version appears somewhere on an official release down the line. In a fitting twist of fate, the band brought a fan, Emilio, on stage with them for the closing performance of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", a Bob Dylan cover featured on the 'I'm Not There' Soundtrack. Emilio saw 'Once" earlier this year and was so inspired by it, he bought a guitar, learned how to play and made his own cd. It was a perfectly ebullient way to finish not just the evening but the tour as well. Music is made to inspire others and there is no greater compliment than someone whose art imitates and inspires life. If this performance and this past year are any indication, the music and continuing inspiration of the Swell Season will be occurring more than "once" in a blue moon, but nightly for decades to come.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and can be found at The Screen Door