“It’s not always you get such a response to a song about death,” Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Hozier proclaimed from The Riverstage on Friday night (6 November) before adding: “So you’re my kind of crowd.”
The world-conquering Irishman may be right, but death has never sounded as good as this. The musician was speaking after performing his track, 'In A Week' that he first introduced with a back story that took his audience to his home town of Wicklow. “Wicklow’s a very scenic place,” he told his audience mid-way through his set.
“There’s a lot of rural areas there and the Wicklow Hills is an expanse of valleys and lakes and rivers, and it’s a very pretty place but if you’re from Ireland or you have lived in Ireland, you’ll know the only time you would really hear about the Wicklow Hills is before or after the words ‘a body has been found'.”
A love song, 'In A Week' is the story of two lovers who go somewhere like this but the chorus: “they’ll find us a in a week” reveals it’s darker meaning.
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Not all songs get this same level of explanation as Hozier lets most of his tracks speak for themselves. Although introducing 'It Will Come Back', he does say: “This next song is kind of about asking somebody that you love to do the kind thing and do the merciful thing in an unfortunate situation, cut all the ropes and just let you go.”
Greeted with deafening cheers and howls when he took to the stage, the reserved performer said few words before launching into his well known 'Like Real People Do'. Although perhaps sometimes quiet in terms of talking, Hozier is a true showman, putting so much into the songs that are so personal to him. This earns him the respect of any crowd, and this was one on his side from the very beginning.
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Still confident in interacting with the audience, those gathered obeyed his request to join him singing the intro for 'To Be Alone', a song which built slowly from the crowd answering the singer’s primal screams to a guitar-screeching finish with an exhilarating light display adding to the effect.
He finished his regular set with 'Take Me To Church'. It was this song that gave Hozier his breakthrough in 2013, taking the world by storm and earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song.
It may be two years later but you could tell it was still this track that many had been waiting to hear. Taking a swipe at Catholic indoctrination that is intrinsic in Irish life, it is also a song that makes him the voice of a religiously-disillusioned generation. The track is also noted for its visceral video, depicting a homophobic attack in Russia and the musician has recently hit out at the Pope’s stance on homosexuality, suggesting it pays only lip service.
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'Foreigner’s God', about feeling alien in the same culture’s values, was a notable omission as the only track from his debut album that wasn’t aired. Introducing the single 'Someone New', Hozier made the crowd laugh: “What a beautiful evening for it. I was standing on the roof about an hour ago watching a storm go the other direction.”
Coming in between two days of heavy rain, Friday was a great night for an open-air concert and long before he took the stage, almost every patch of green on the hill was taken up while front and centre would hold the usual army equipped with their phones.
Hozier’s down to earth nature is endearing. He stops many times to give credit, whether it is to backing musicians, the back-stage crew, Karen Cowley – who features on the album and was able to make the tour – or to support act Rhodes who started the show so admirably.
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Upon the gig’s conclusion, it is the unit and not just the well known individual that you see take a bow. Playing his final date in Australia, the singer revealed how much he had been looking forward to it just before striking the first chords of 'Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene' with its infectious, gospel feel.
Hozier answered the chants of “one more tune” to play three more songs, including a version of Adriana Grande’s 'Problem' that turned into Warren G's 'Regulate' and back again, a song that was “just for the big eff of it”.
“You guys have been incredibly sweet and it’s genuinely such a lovely way to say goodbye to Australia. Thank you so much,” he said before his final track of the night, 'Work Song', which saw the crowd clapping along to his haunting vocals to the end.
“Thanks a lot, Brisbane,” he said leaving the stage. “See you again.” The prolonged applause said he would be very welcome when he does come back.
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