Live At The Marquee - A Chancer's Guide to The Frames

The Frames play Live At The Marquee on Saturday July 11th.

The Frames were formed in 1990 by Glen Hansard. The name The Frames arose from Hansard's habit of fixing bicycles of his friends. The large number of bicycle frames lying around his house led neighbours to dub it the "house with the frames".

The band has had many members over the years, some of whom have also been, or later became, members of other Dublin rock bands. Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Dave Odlum both were founding members of folk group Kíla. Graham Downey, son of Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, played bass for the band between 1993 and 1996. The current line-up features Glen Hansard, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Joe Doyle, Rob Bochnik and Graham Hopkins.

The Frames have always collaborated closely with other groups that emerged from the buskers on Grafton Street, Dublin, where Hansard started his music career. Among these groups were the aforementioned Kíla, and Mic Christopher with The Frames still occasionally performing Mic's songs—especially "Heyday"—as a tribute.

In 1991, Hansard came to public attention after taking the part of "Outspan" Foster in the film The Commitments. Mac Con Iomaire also had a cameo in the movie as a violinist auditioning for the band. Bronagh Gallagher, one of Hansard's colleagues, can be seen wearing a Frames t-shirt in her appearance in the film Pulp Fiction.

In 2007, Hansard appeared in the movie Once, directed by John Carney who used to be a bassist in The Frames, alongside his then fiance Markéta Irglová. The movie was based in Dublin and focused around the story of a busker played by Hansard. Shot for only €112,000, the film was successful, earning substantial box office averages in the United States. Hansard and Irglová's song "Falling Slowly" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the soundtrack as a whole also received a Grammy Award nomination.

The Frames most recent album, Longitude, was released this year.

This is The Frames second performance at Live At The Marquee.