Hozier Takes Dublin By Storm
It’s cold but sunny in Dublin, Ireland, and Hozier’s fans have spent hours waiting outside the Arena. Tuesday, December 19th was the first of three Dublin shows for Hozier, marking the end of an incredible year.
Celebrating Hozier’s third record, ‘Unreal Unearth’, the carefully-crafted setlist combined his new tracks with much-loved old favorites. He kicked off the show with the gentle yet crushing ‘de Selby Part 1’, standing underneath a sparkling spotlight, singing gently ‘At last, when all of the worlds was asleep/You take in the blackness of air / The likes of a darkness so deep / That God, at the start, couldn't bear’, before switching effortlessly into Irish for the outro, the crowd singing along in perfect timing. The gears switched, and he plunged the audience into the heavy bassline of ‘de Selby Part 2’, with Domhnall Gleeson’s face flashing up on the rear screens as they played snippets of the music video. Surprising no one, every person in the audience knew every word; the band themselves were enjoying it just as much as the fans, with Hozier and bassist Alex Ryan playing together center stage.
After properly welcoming the crowd to the show, Hozier took it back to his debut album by playing fan favorites ‘Jackie and Wilson’ and ‘From Eden’, cracking a grateful smile for the amount of passion the fans were singing his words back to him with. It was clear he was glad to be home. Thanking his band and support act The Last Dinner Party for opening the show, he then kicked it up a notch with one of the most loved tracks on his latest album, ‘Francesca’, which was a riotous storm of guitar riffs and powerful lyricism that felt like gale-force winds inside the arena.
He kept the energy high with ‘To Be Alone’, where he tested Dublin’s ability for collective singing, teasing the audience by saying ‘There’s no wrong notes, except the ones I’m not about to play’, before playing ‘Dinner & Diatribes’. For ‘Movement’, he put his guitar down and strolled around the stage with his hand in his pocket, his voice effortlessly soaring above his band.
Next, he stripped it back to just himself and an acoustic guitar for ‘Cherry Wine’, recorded in an abandoned hotel not far from the venue. Lit by a halo of cherry red lights, he performed this classic track solo, smiling down at the ground as he soaked in the sound of 13,000 people singing the words back to him. He then brought the energy back up with a stunning full band performance of ‘First Light’, after which he thanked his mum (who attended the show) for bringing him flowers during lockdown to cheer him up. He followed that with ‘Like Real People Do’ and ‘Abstract (Psychopomp)’, before which he said ‘I’m going to bring the mood back up. Here’s a song about seeing a dead animal.’ Next was one of his most successful songs to date, ‘Would That I’, where he brought out Abigail from The Last Dinner Party to sing it with him.
For the final stretch of the main set, the band performed ‘Damage Get Done’, ‘Almost (Sweet Music)’, ‘Eat Your Young’ and ‘First Light’. In classic Hozier fashion, he finished the main set with his most successful song to date, ‘Take Me To Church’. Putting down his guitar he strolled around the stage, passionately belting out his anthem; the electrified crowd were louder than ever, with their pride flags waving in the air and tears streaming down their faces.
For the encore, the band performed ‘Nina Cried Power’, where Hozier thanked the fans for being politically engaged and standing up when they saw injustice, and ‘Unknown/Nth’, where a heart-breaking song brought a smile to everyone’s faces as he mixed up which microphone he needed to sing into. He finished the night by thanking his band and giving shout-outs to the people who made the show happen. He picked up his guitar for a final time to perform ‘Work Song’, and the crowd, fully devoted to him, echoed back his words: ‘When my time comes around / Lay me gently in the cold dark earth / No grave can hold my body down / I’ll crawl home to her.’
After what has been a whirlwind year for him and the band, he sure was glad to play a spellbinding show in his hometown. Seeing Hozier perform live is something truly special, and luckily for us, he’s back on the road next year.
Tickets for Hozier’s 2024 tour are on sale now - grab them here while you can!