Thursday 20/01/05 I Am Kloot, The Frames @ The Arches, Glasgow

January 22, 2005 by Ash McConnell

I Am Kloot is essentially John Harold Arnold Bramwell (you can see why he went for a snappier name), and his music is pleasant enough. There are traces of David Gray (without the disturbing head wobble) in his songs and a little bit of Liam Gallagher in his voice on occasion. The overall result is just a set of inoffensive tunes and the (largely seated) audience listen relatively impassively without being roused to do anything more energetic than nod along. Inexplicably, the gig is a seated one, and for a great deal of the evening most of the audience is in the chairs, and the standing listeners keep a respectful distance from the stage.

The Frames come onstage to rapturous applause and begin their set. Initially singer Glen Hansard seems shy and mumbles incoherently into the microphone between songs, but suddenly things pick up. Glen brightens and tells us the story behind fourth song, ‘Lay Me Down’ (from the album 'For the Birds') and it transpires that he is both charismatic and highly amusing. The song is rousing and beautiful with incredibly haunting violin playing from the hugely talented Colm Mac Con Iomaire, who has the added advantage of looking haunted to the point of being nearly dead. It's received with massive enthusiasm and from here on in the audience is held spellbound. The feeling is like one of watching a film (one drunk guy talking is even told to be quiet), but one which the audience is a part of.

As the set progresses, it becomes apparent that The Frames have more than beautiful songs. They have energetic, bouncing songs too, which lead to the ever-increasing numbers of people standing at the sides to pogo around. They draw songs from their new album ‘Burn The Maps’, but essentially the set is a stroll through some of their best music, new and old. It occurs to me that I cannot think of a single band to compare The Frames with. There are so many aspects to their music that finding an appropriate comparator would be impossible.

The last song played before the encore is ‘Star Star **’ (from 'Dance The Devil'), by which point eighty percent of the audience is on their feet squeezed down in front of the stage, bounding around and singing along to every word. This elation continues through their encore, which includes a comical refrain on the subject of vampires. The Frames have a rare gift – they can entertain, amuse, captivate and inspire, all at the same time. A friend of mine tells me she would marry Glen Hansard right now, and since without The Frames and his music, he is essentially a skinny ginger man with a beard, this shows everything that’s incredible about The Frames. Their music is exceptional and irresistible, and it makes them the same.

You can keep up to date with all the latest news from Gigwise by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.