TORONTO -- The magic Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have is thankfully happening more than once.

Earlier this year the duo (reportedly an item) earned an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly from the delightfully refreshing film Once. The movie was similar in tone to Lost In Translation but with Hansard, the singer and guitarist from Irish band The Frames, able to wipe the floor with Bill Murray if it ever came to karaoke singing.

Now the tandem, known as The Swell Season, is currently touring North America. And Saturday night at Toronto's close to sold-out Massey Hall the pair easily showcased that synergy the film captured perfectly.

The lanky Hansard and the smaller, younger Irglova sauntered onstage and performed a cover of Van Morrison's Into The Mystic around one microphone, their voices melding together as Hansard strummed an acoustic guitar.

Yet the biggest surprise came when Irglova dashed towards her piano and the tender, poignant Falling Slowly becoming the show's second song, a tune most probably thought would come much later in the evening's encore.

After a loud ovation from the attentive audience, a four-piece band supporting them entered for the lighter, folksy Leave The Moon and When Your Mind's Made Up with Irglova providing terribly sweet harmonies on both but especially the latter.

"Thanks a lot, thank you very much!" Hansard said. "This is amazing this room. Being a Neil Young fan and playing in the room, well...you know."

Although Hansard did most of the lead vocals, Irglova had some time in the spotlight, switching places with Hansard for the somewhat dark I Have Loved You Wrong, a song that immediately brought to mind the likes of Emmylou Harris with her fragile, haunting yet delicate set of pipes.

The Swell Season's material often tugs on the old heartstrings, but Hansard was in a jovial mood most of the evening. Following Say It To Me Now which he performed at the lip of the stage without any microphone, he mentioned how he went to Saint Michael's Hospital to "give some blood samples and others."

"Saint Michael is my favourite saint so I just went in," he quipped to laughs. "I'm okay."

He would also relay the story of What Happens When The Heart Just Stops, the inspiration being in part about moving on but also a dog known as Deefer, "Deefer dog."

But generally The Swell Season let the music do most of the talking for them, whether it was the powerful, fast-paced Finally or on the newly crafted Low Rising, a song which was performed three times before and still in the "figuring it out" phase.

Although stating a national hero was in the audience but refusing to point him or her out, The Swell Season offered up The Frames number Red Chord, one of the bigger hits from The Frames catalogue as Hansard mentioned Canadian singer Mary Margaret O'Hara in the tune. He would also toss in a snippet of Van Morrison's Here Comes The Night before reining the song in to close the memorable main set.

The encore consisted of a few more songs highlight by Irglova's performance on piano for The Hill and strumming a guitar for If You Want Me.

Earlier in the evening, Bill Callahan performed a fine 50-minute set with a minimal amount of instrumentation. Callahan, who has also released albums under the moniker Smog, vocally resembled a cross between Lou Reed and Willie Nelson on songs like I Feel Like The Mother Of The World, Cold Blooded Old Times and Sycamore.

Sun Rating: 4 out of 5