What a difference an Oscar makes. Singer-songwriters Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo who starred in the surprise hit film “Once,” seemed as surprised as anyone to find themselves on a stage usually meant for giant rock bands and MTV-sponsored pop acts. The pair, who tour under the moniker the Swell Season, may not have been in an ideal setting, but their achingly tender and brazenly passionate performance Friday night managed to turn the voluminous Agganis Arena into a Dublin street corner ideal for buskers. All that was missing was a guitar case at the front of the stage in which to throw coins and wrinkled dollar bills.

The feat of creating intimacy in an arena began with Hansard and Irglova (who incidentally have become a real-life couple) humbly walking on stage to share a microphone on a glorious opening cover of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.” Following their tribute to their fellow Irishman, the two then went directly for the jugular, with Irglova moving to the piano to begin the familiar lilt of their Academy Award-winning “Falling Slowly.”