Concert Review: Hozier Takes it far beyond "Church"

Although he just was at the Grammy's a little less than a month ago, it is clear that Andrew "Hozier"-Bryne is still humbled to play at smaller venues.  Yesterday, Hozier came to First Avenue in Minneapolis.  As Andrew scanned the crowd with a sensitive smile, he said "if music were a religion, this place would be holy ground".

I knew Hozier was coming to First Avenue right from the get-go, but tickets sold out lickety-split.  It seemed I was out of luck until my sister's friend contacted me about having two extra tickets.  And would I like to go? Uhhh, yess!!??

I hadn't seen Hozier live before, but I was very very familiar with his self-titled debut album.  If you're not acquainted, Hozier is a 24-year old solo artist coming out of a small town in Ireland known for his blues-inspired instrumentals and lyrics that address the beautiful struggles of love. His first album was released in September 2014 after a short 2013 EP.  The music video for Take Me to Church has sparked controversy, highlighting homosexual issues with the Church.  In First Avenue's intimate setting, Hozier's rich voice filled the room with a good balance of instrumentals and back-up vocals to match the sounds produced off his album. Hozier started off his set with familiar songs From Eden and the more bluesy tune Jackie and Wilson.  A few lesser-known songs by crowd-goers followed including "Sedated" and "It will Come Back", but without letting down the positive atmosphere.

Back-up singers left the stage for In a Week, a passionate duet ballad about what Hozier respectfully referred to as "what lovers do best".  On this song, the adorably humble Alana Henderson sang vocals to compliment Hozier, getting a strong audience reaction for her smooth voice.  She quietly left the stage after the song and returned to play (tasteful) cello in the rest of the set.  Another surprising favorite followed, Illinois Blues, a Skip James cover, where Hozier aggressively plucked at his guitar and won the crowd over with an unfamiliar tune. Hozier played a few more songs by himself before inviting the band back on and playing the powerful radio hit Take Me to Church.  Although Take Me to Church was the last song in the normal setlist, Hozier didn't make the song out to be a huge deal. To Hozier, Take Me to Church was just another passionate song, like any other in the set.

After leaving the stage, the crowd screamed for a considerable amount of time for the inevitable encore.  I was almost scared he wouldn't return, I'm telling you, it was a considerable amount of time.  But he came back with tea in hand to play four more songs.  Encore songs included the slower Cherry Wine and an unexpected cover of Ariana Grande's Problem.  I am definitely not a fan of Ariana Grande, but Hozier's cover proved how versatile and how creative he can be to present a cover as if it were his own.  Hozier passionately finished with Work Song, my personal favorite.

 

 

This was my first 18-plus show and since I'm under 18, that means Mama Ryan came with.  We both were on the outskirts of the age-range that attended, but we didn't feel out of place. She really enjoyed the show and I'm so so happy she got to experience why I get so excited about attending shows and why live music is so important.

 

 

The opening band Asgeir was a pleasant surprise but it didn't really seem like that to most of the audience.  The Icelandic group was very soft-spoken, saying little except a quick, genuine thank you after each song.  Their set was quite short, only four or five songs filled with rich tenor lead vocals and heavy synthesizers (to the likes of Alt-J).  For some, the synthesizers may have been a bit 'much' but I absolutely enjoyed.  As they sang half their songs in Icelandic, the crowd was chatting and surfing their phones, generally enjoying the set but not getting overly excited.

Notable song to check out: King and Cross

I wouldn't have traded last night for the world.  First Avenue is such an intimate venue without being overly small.  And I love that.  The crowd was a mixture of young 20-or-30-somethings looking for a casual night to listen to some killer music.  I was in such a great mood that I was hardly upset when a lady spilled her beer on my back or when another lady pushed her way in front of me holding up a flag of some sort (screaming every time there was a pause in the music of course).  They were just there to have a good time and so was I, who was I to complain?

There is little I have to say negatively about the experience.  Perhaps the crowd wasn't as overly OVERLY into the music as I would have liked, bobbing their head and focusing on taking pictures rather than throwing their hands up and not giving a care in the world.  The back-up singers seemed a bit unnecessary at times, but gave a nice color to Hozier's vocals when it was needed.

Perhaps the most comforting thing of all was seeing how Hozier was enjoying every moment he was on stage.  He wasn't just going through the motions, performing the same way he did the night before.   It seemed to hold importance to him.  When leaving the stage, he took an extra pause to survey the crowd and closed his eyes, letting the memory sink in.   To him, Minneapolis wasn't just another stop along his tour, it was 'holy ground' and promised he would return.  And I know he means it.

Hozier ft. Asgeir
First Avenue, Minneapolis
http://hozier.com/us/ & http://asgeirmusic.com/