Live Review: Hozier, Dustin Tebbutt

Homegrown indie/pop artist Dustin Tebbutt opened the night, but he was just background noise to the excited chatter coming from the sold out crowd. He was singing away and chatting to the audience, trying to engage them, but his efforts were fruitless as it was impossible to hear him.

Hozier, on the other hand, had the crowd’s attention from the word go. The screams were deafening as he launched straight into effortlessly haunting renditions of From Eden and Jackie & Wilson. This reviewer heard several audience members saying they didn’t even know what he looked like, but were excited to hear him play songs from his hit self-titled debut album. It’s a testament to the Irishman’s vocal talent that people didn’t even care what he looks like, but were purely there for his music.

A breathtaking version of In A Week performed as a duet with his cellist Alana Henderson had the entire crowd completely silent as they told us a story of two lovers dying in the Wicklow Hills in Ireland. Hozier was blown away by the crowd’s reaction, saying, “I wouldn’t expect that kind of reaction for a song like that.”

If there were any criticisms to be made of the night, it was that the light displays were at times a little over the top and distracting from Hozier and his band’s vocal ability and musicianship. The most chilling moments came when the stage was dark with a few simple spotlights illuminating the musicians.

The highlight of the night, and the thing that sent a deafening roar through the theatre, was the closing song Take Me To Church, with Hozier bidding us farewell and promising us to be back at the end of the year.