Live Report: Glen Hansard displays peace love and patriotism at Dublin return

As Glen Hansard walks on stage, the rain that greeted Wet Leg in this venue yesterday has given way. This time, the clouds merely block the evening sun from reaching the ground rather than soak the attendees.

The stage is only a stone's throw from where Glen Hasnard’s career began by busking on Grafton Street, over 35 years ago. The musician met a street artist, who offered him a couch in his flat, where he would stay for the next four years before his career eventually took off.

He would go on to form The Frames, who heavily influenced the local rock scene throughout the 90s, before kick-starting his solo career in 2006 with the release of Swell Season.

It’s the raw and aggressive guitar intro of The Frames’ 'Revelate' that kicks off proceedings. Hansard’s vocals are raw and fiercely passionate. A cathartic vehicle to deliver a commanding chorus.

Glen Hansard at Trinity Summer Series on July 3, 2026. Copyright Saoirse McAllorum/hotpress.com

Moving on from The Frames material, the punchy, blues guitar riff that introduces ‘Didn’t He Ramble’ rings around the campus. About his late father, the track aims to “honour someone in your life in a way that’s not judgemental.”

"But didn’t he ramble / Didn’t he roam / Didn’t he wander so far from home / Didn’t he teach us/ didn’t/ Didn’t we learn."

The opening act, Josh O’Keefe, remerges to perform a duet of 'The Foggy Dew'. As Hansard begins the acapella, the chatter and laughter that rings around the ground halts. The silence provides a counterpoint to the rich, hollering vocals that turn the Irish folk tune into a powerful battle cry.

Glen follows this with another mainstay of Irish traditional music compilations, The Pogues’ ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Everyday'. The track is sung by bassist Cait O'Riordan on their 1985 album Rum Sodomy and The Lash. Hansard’s version reveals what the track might have sounded like if Shane McGowan performed the lead vocals. The Dubliner's emotive, gravelly vocals cut through the orchestration of pounding drums, bellowing uilleann pipes, electric guitar and a thrilling flute.

The Oscar-winning 'Falling Slowly' is sang in unison by the 5,000 packed into the green of Trinity College, as the last of the sun peeks over Dublin's skyline

As the night falls, Steven James Smith performs his poem ‘Dublin You Are’, a love letter to his hometown. The poem is a localised, gritty, and affectionate tribute with exactly 50 mentions of Dublin. While reciting the poem, Smith claims to see a ghost of Pat Ingoldsby, the Irish poet and television presenter who died last year.

“I just saw a ghost,” Smith says. "I swear to God. I looked out there, and I just saw a ghost. I just saw Pat Ingoldsby, who’s my hero out there."

Glen Hansard at Trinity Summer Series on July 3, 2026. Copyright Saoirse McAllorum/hotpress.com

Against the backdrop of such an poignant poem, the jangly, upbeat orchestration of ‘Heyday’ seems all the more joyous. With the sun now, fans dance in under the moonlight. Hansard’s right hand is phenomenally quick, providing a percussive, flamenco element reminiscent of Rodrigo y Gabriella.

Hansard calls one of his old friends, Ray ‘Sparky’ Corcoran, to sing the gig’s final song, ‘The Auld Triangle’.

“‘Sparky’ Ray Corcoran, if you’re here, come up to the stage; I need you now,” the musician called out to the crowd.

Learning that Sparky wasn’t at the gig, Hansard calls up another one of his old friends, Dean Scurry, a youth worker from Ballymun.

‘He’s in Ballymun? Is he locked up? Will you sing it, Dean? Come on.”

As Scurry makes his way up through the crowd, Hansard leads the crowd to sing the Irish folk song. It's a powerful moment. 5,000 people hollering about the loneliness of Irish life. It seems a fitting end for a performance that stood for peace, love and patriotism.

Glen Hansard at Trinity Summer Series on July 3, 2026. Copyright Saoirse McAllorum/hotpress.com