Ireland's Glen Hansard would have a lot to talk about with Damon Albarn: both became famous arena-rockers in their home countries, but each only became truly known in the US through their side projects. Hansard's journey with The Swell Season has been epic: the small indie film Once was never intended for wide distribution, but several sold-out tours and an Oscar later, the AT&T Blue Room stage was packed on Friday evening. The crowd was date night personified: couples were everywhere, and the music explained why. Expanding from the duo format of the film, the full band featured tonight allowed the singer-songwriter material to play to a large audience by using quiet-loud-quiet dynamics and accenting the moody pieces with strings and drums to give them more power. ...

Image by David Clearly from Myspace The Swell Season with Martha WainwrightThursday, November 15Stubbs (801 Red River)$23, doors at 6:30 p.m.[info]If you loved the romantic indie musical Once, head to Stubb’s early tonight to see the movie recreated live by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. In the film, Hansard, Irish frontman of The Frames, and Irglová, a Czech singer and pianist, played two musicians that fall for each other in song. As The Swell Season,......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......