Hozier live review: A conflict of intimacy and scale
Hozier has always felt like an odd choice for the scale of celebrity he has reached. It’s not odd in that he isn’t deserving; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. There’s something fascinating about it: a rare event where genuine talent has prevailed in an industry increasingly obsessed with fast hits and hyper-entertainment.
Since bursting onto the scene back in 2013, Hozier has managed to stick around while offering nothing but a naturally gifted voice, rich literary lyrics and a steadfast commitment to making his art and his art only. Hearing the Irish singer’s voice, both on recordings and live, proves precisely why he deserves attention, and when wandering into Wembley’s OVO Arena, the fact that he got that attention and keeps hold of it is wonderful. But see such humility under a glaring spotlight is also certainly a little odd.
It’s odd because Hozier isn’t the classic rock act or pop star you’d expect to hear in a giant arena. While some of his tracks could be defined as anthemic, the majority lean towards intimacy. Writing about religion, love, Irish identity and folklore, it’s the kind of music to put on in your bedroom, not necessarily the sort of music to boom through a 12,500-capacity arena. For context, on his second album tour in 2019, Hozier played the Palladium, which has a 2,300 capacity, so this is a significant scale-up.
The entire night seemed to ask one question: can they make it work? It was being asked of the support act as well as the most hyped band around at the moment, The Last Dinner Party took to the vast stage. This is my fifth time seeing the band that are rising at the speed of light. I’ve always loved the energy at their shows, whipping their crowds into a feminine frenzy. In the arena, they sound as good as they do in small, intimate settings. Their guitar solos rip through the room and feel capable of handling the space. As the singer, Abigail, runs up and down the stage, you’d think she owns it, like everyone is there to see her, leaving me with no doubt that, eventually, they will be.
Suddenly, the lights go down, a scream roars out from the crowd and then, nothing. No music, no lighting effects, just Hozier and his band walking on stage. The energy lulls, stunted by the anticlimactic entrance. I get what he’s doing as he picks up the acoustic guitar and starts the new album opener, ‘De Selby (Part 1)’, a stripped-back and slow solo number. Everyone is still and calm, just waiting for the bigger track, ‘De Selby (Part 2)’, to begin.
My feelings are mixed. On one hand, his entrance is rebellious and bold. He totally disregards what he should do in a venue like this, refusing to race in with a hit and instead staying committed to his vision for this album tour. In this way, Hozier stays true to who he is: a folk rock artist interested in craft and art over hit-making. But on the other hand, the formula of starting and ending with a hit is there for a reason, and as the crowd all twiddle their thumbs waiting, I’m not sure whether his decision has quite worked.
It does improve, though. After the introduction, the run of some of his more anthemic tracks, ‘Jackie & Wilson’, ‘From Eden’ and the epic ballad ‘Francesca’, picks the energy up. Songs from his debut album go down best, prompting a mass singalong. Nevertheless, the audience is still reluctant to move. In fact, two girls nearby clambered to empty seats and proclaimed, “We just got told off for standing up to dance.” In an act of solidarity, I get to my feet and dance with them but can’t shake the strange sense of discomfort that I’ve never felt for grooving at a gig before.
It feels cruel, though, to tarnish Hozier’s own skill with the malaise of the audience. From start to end, the singer and his band sound perfect. His voice is gobsmacking. Moments of stand-out beauty come during solo tracks as the lights create a kind of nest around him. Almost as if to try and fabricate a space more intimate, to briefly ignore the vast arena around him, ‘Cherry Wine’ and ‘Unknown/Nth’ are played perfectly from this imagined snug. Another moment of note comes when The Last Dinner Party’s Abigail Morris joins him on stage for a rendition of ‘Would That I’. But this feeling has started to settle in that I’d rather see all of this in a smaller room.
Hozier wants to play his favourite songs, giving the grand finale to the sparse and haunting ‘Work Song’. He wanted to talk to his audience properly, so he dedicated extended introductions to discussing the etymology of Irish terms or the right to vote. He takes the time to thank the entire village of people who make the show happen, standing on the stage for a few moments just calling out names, from his band to his guitar techs, to his managers and beyond, in a move of gratitude I’ve never seen on this level before.
For people coming to the show expecting a high production performance from the hitmaker behind ‘Take Me To Church’, they would have been disappointed. For major Hozier fans that simply wanted to celebrate his talent, they had the opportunity to do so. But on the arena stage, the strange choice of star did whatever he wanted to, rejecting any notion of how a show on this scale should be handled. And while he sounded incredible, his audience felt too vast and too isolated to truly be there with him.
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