There was much ado downtown about last Thursday's Triple Door show, namely that Academy Award winning-half of the Swell Season duo Marketa Irglova was set to perform to a packed house on her first solo tour -- and that she did. With a stunningly beautiful, courageously autobiographical set, Marketa let us under her clean-seeming surface layers into the most intimate corners of her internal processes, storytelling as she built the energy on the stage for well over an hour of ebb and flow, amidst the glass-clinks and occasional errant dropping of silverware.

Both of the night's performers, while varying in style -- Marketa leaning more toward the adult contemporary-esque, Kate-Bush-y set; opener Sean Rowe capturing a more pinpointed angst that perhaps fewer will comprehend, but those that do will do so fervently -- graciously let the room in to their hearts and minds for a glimpse of their personal landscapes over the course of the night, and the room followed willingly. As accomplished as the Swell Season is, Marketa had some big shoes to fill on her solo endeavor, and she did so beautifully: it's clear that the underpinnings of greatness exist here, and with the help of her band (including Frame Rob Bochnik), it seems as though the things that made her great during her endeavors with Glen Hansard have ample room to come to light in due time.

It's worth taking time and space to note a little more about the first act of the night, Sean Rowe. Just as unassuming as Marketa at first glance, visually and sonically -- file under: bearded guy with well-worn guitar and a pile of heartbreak -- he proceeded to shock the room with his commanding energy and larger-than-life stage presence. With a foothold somewhere between an older version of local all-star Moondoggie Kevin Murphy and the esteemed tones of Richard Thompson, Sean Rowe literally took over the room for his forty-plus minute set. He rocked and swooned, let his voice break when a line pulled at his heartstrings, and crossed the line song by song from innocent bystander to the conductor of his own demise and back effortlessly.

Sean Rowe:

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In the midst of a headlining solo tour in support of last month's release Anar, the Swell Season's Marketa Irglova will be taking the stage at the Triple Door tonight in Seattle. Coming into the spotlight as merely a counterpart, a "girl" in the boy-girl dynamic, her role in Once pushed her out into the spotlight where she's proven to be not just a competent band member with Glen Hansard on the lead, but a supremely talented musician in her own right. Her gorgeous, sparse storytelling -- parts autobiographical, parts fiction, although it seems that most is the former -- is quiet, clean, and pretty at first glance; but a strength and size come to the surface after a closer listen that's fast causing Marketa to become a force to be reckoned with in the singer-songwriter game today.

We loved her contributions to Once and all things Swell Season so far, and we're looking forward to getting a glimpse tonight of what she does on stage on her own. An evening in our favorite sit-down theater with an Academy Award winning talent? Yes please! And you should absolutely join us: the show is all ages and tickets are still available at the Triple Door's site here.

{6p doors / 7:30p show / $17.50 adv / $20 DOS. All ages.}