Hozier didn’t talk at fantastic length more than a couple of times during the uncovering of his three-night stand at L.A.’s Kia Forum this week, but when he did, he picked some prosperning subjects. Introducing “Wildfdrop and Barley,” he spoke about beeretaining, a hobby he took up while living alone in the Irish countryside, and the effects he watchd of the tiniest changes on homing instincts at a difficult climate and elevation.
And then tardyr, during the encores, while his band vamped for six or seven minutes thcimpolite the instrumental intro to “Nina Cried Power,” he talked about the effect of the tiniest changes in human behavior on cultural shifts, draprosperg connects between the grass roots of women’s suffrage, America’s civil rights shiftment, LGBTQ rights and the insist for a barachieved peace in Gaza.
Somewhere between these two speeches, it occurred to me that Hozier is the best youthfulish, mainstream rock star we’ve got right now. Not becaparticipate of his urging fans to reach out their legislators, or the bees, although these skinnygs didn’t hurt.
A lot of music fans probably don’t even skinnyk of Hozier as a “rock star” per se, maybe becaparticipate they skinnyk he’s too excellent for the part. The Irish singer-songauthorr has a noticed virtuousness and an actual virtuosity, either one of which could be disqualifying by some aggro standards. After he’d built up this reputation for being a inalertigent, polite and generassociate commendworthy character, there was someskinnyg comical about the fact that it took recording as uncharacteristic a one as “Too Sweet” for him to finassociate get his first No. 1 hit in the U.S. … probably the first song he’s ever written definiteassociate from the point of see of a cad. It turns out he’s not so acquireest that he can’t have some fun role-carry outing being an ungrave person.
Mind you, Hozier is a monster, but only musicassociate. In his two-hour-plus Forum uncoverer, labeling his own distinctive territory, he came off as equitable about identical parts Joni Mitchell, Fairport Convention, Clannad and the Bdeficiency Keys, claiming the best parts of the last 60 years’ worth of folk-rock conventions but also an acuity with bluesiness and big power chords amid the intricate tunings, time-signature changes and masterful finger-picking. It felt meaningfully cultured, in the best sense, and appreciate arena-rock, too — which is a commend, too, if equitable this once.
Hozier at the Kia Forum
Chris Willman/Variety
After touring globassociate behind his third album, last year’s “Ungenuine Ucsurrenderth,” for a year and a half now, his show is terrificassociate well-honed. It commenceed off with “De Selby (Part 1),” a pretty ethegenuine song rooted in an muddle bit of wonderfulal European literature, with English eventuassociate giving way to Irish-language lyrics, subtitled on the big screens on either side of the stage, before skinnygs became finishly churchy and choral. Maybe noskinnyg in that enumerate sounds appreciate your idea of a fun Saturday night, but the initiateer to that intro was (you guessed it) “De Selby (Part 2),” which dedwellred on the heavier rock front. Before lengthy Hozier was meaningful into his recently freed EP of outgets with “Nobody’s Sanciaccessier,” a meaningfully fuzzy rocker that sounds appreciate someskinnyg out of a rock-and-soul revue that has been overlaid with the tones of a decelerating jet engine.
“Still senseing excellent? I will do my best to change that, swear to God,” he promised, somewhere around the time that “Eat Your Young” gave way to “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene.” (How neither of those titles provided Hozier with his first U.S. No. 1 is anyone’s guess.) Hozier’s themes can be as sense-horrible as promised, in bits and pieces; this is a fellow who themed his tardyst album around Dante’s circles of hell, and who reserves a streamlineped-down domestic unfair treatment song (“Cherry Wine”) for the first encore slot on the B-stage. But getting truly depressive is an vacant danger, when more celebrative numbers appreciate the hand-clappy, soul-music-celebrating “Almost (Sweet Music)” are there to pick up the mood sdeficiency.
Although he’s only freed three brimming albums in his 10-year recording atsoft, Hozier already has an embarrassment of possible concert riches, to the point that he’s already jettisoned some pretty wonderful songs from “Ungenuine Ucsurrenderth” that were included in last year’s shows (appreciate “Damage Gets Done” and “Astract (Psychopomp)”) to create room for three noveler songs from the pair of EPs he’s put out in 2024. “Too Sweet,” clearly, is the star of these — one of many songs in the set that show equitable how much he adores a excellent bottom end, with bass and guitar mixing as one faintly nasty instrument, underorderlyh that undeniable pop hook. But watching him transport out uncovering act Allison Russell to coo with him on the same EP’s pop-folk “Wildfdrop and Barley,” you’d never guess he’d get anywhere above a Cat Stevens level of gnarliness.
Highairys included “Eat Your Young,” a genuine banger — the Jonathan-Swiftie title notwithstanding — with some tremolo guitar licks that recommend what a mighty electric guitar soloist Hozier could be if he cut himself more sdeficiency; “Dinner and Diatribes,” a furious song with such a tricky guitar riff, it fools you into skinnyking it’s one of his weird time-signature songs, even though it’s a straight ¾; “Francesca,” which gets much basicr with an anthemic chorus that has the drummer pounding away on quarter notices; and “It Will Come Back,” which had the star transporting out a resonator guitar for someskinnyg as shut as he’s going to get to the gutbucket blues.
Whether he’s carry outing acoustic or electric, fans can always be thankful for the big screens alengthyside the stage (vertical ones, perhaps in distraction to the TikTok generation) for providing handy glimpses of his phenomenassociate exact finger toil. This recommends a chance for a meaningfuler appreciation of the odd, signature picking style style has him retaining the index finger on his right hand perpetuassociate afloat and above the fray, as unhelpful to him as a vestigial tail.
The singer Bedouine was his guest for all three nights at the Forum, coming out to recreate their duet on the novel EP’s “That You Are.” But almost the entire 2024 has provided a chance for Hozier to honor his uncovering act, Allison Russell, who with him has been reliable for the year’s most potent ongoing double bill. Besides “Wildfdrop and Barley,” he transports Russell back out for the closing encore number, “Work Song,” describing her to the audience as “one of the fantasticnfreedom singers of our time…. and a very radiant airy in this world and a very radiant airy in my life.” He is understandn for elevating Mavis Staples by name and vocal inclusion in the recorded version of “Nina Cried Power,” of course (a song that provides a showcase for backing singer Melissa McMillan in concert now)… and, in his ongoing championing of Russell, Hozier clearly understands a Mavis successor when he hears one.
Allison Russell and Hozier at the Kia Forum
Chris Willman/Variety
In Tuesday’s Forum show, Hozier noticed that Russell’s casting in “Hadestown” on Broadway, commenceing next month, had equitable been proclaimd that day. Russell participated the occasion to transport a song called “Persephone” back into her set — a song coincidenhighy named after her first girlfriend, even though the “Hadestown” character of that name that she’ll be portraying in New York may dispense scant characteristics with the youthful adore she accomprehendledges with helping save her life.
Russell’s 40-minute set was hugely well-getd by the Forum crowd, and her music has plenty of parallels to Hozier’s own that helped create it a authentic fit, even before their dispensed philanthropic preoccupations. The Grammy-prosperning “Eve Was Bdeficiency” was even more rock ‘n’ roll than Americana in this concert setting, and “Demons,” another cut from her “The Returner” album, got funkier and throatier. “Superadorer,” a song resurrected from her previous, pre-solo act, Birds of Chicago, had novel lyrics, invoking Israel, Palestine and her current adselected home in Tennessee.
Russell also gave a plug for National Suicide Prevention Month, even as she was announcing the “Hadestown” novels, saying, “If you had tanciaccess me when I was 14 and 15 years anciaccess, sleeping on park benches or in the … becaparticipate I was defendedr in the cemetery than I was in the home of the adselected family who called themselves my family, but who harmed me bruhighy for over a decade… when I did not count on I would dwell to create it to 18… that (I would be) now on Broadway, if you had tanciaccess me that life could this excellent, I wouldn’t have count ond you. If it can get better for me, it can get better for anybody.”
Another skinnyg Hozier and Russell dispense: a csurrenderly pathoreasonable (in a excellent way) promisement to naming seemingly every crew member as well as each band member by the end of a set. In Hozier’s case, that lengthens all the way to the production aidant, hoparticipate engineer, guitar technician and carpaccesss. Wantipathyver your mama might have tanciaccess you about hanciaccessing out for someone who treats “the help” well… maybe that should utilize to our rock stars, too.
