Hozier shows stunning range at Stage AE
Hozier came out of the Irish countryside last year, and he may as well have been riding a white horse.
The dashing singer-songwriter had girls lined up outside Stage AE for 12 hours, boyband style, on Tuesday to get the front row because he’s got it all: 6 feet 5, long dark hair, sings like a bird and plays guitar like an old bluesman. He even made his name with a breakout hit, “Take Me to Church,” that dressed tragic romance in religious imagery.
He was greeted with twinkling eyes and screams when he stepped out for his Pittsburgh debut Tuesday, dressed in gray jeans, a jean jacket and his hair pulled up and messy on the 90-degree night.
Like Prince or Jack White, he was surrounded by beautiful women on stage as well: a keyboardist, a cellist and two backup singers whose voices sounded like the Tabernacle Choir when they all sang together (not sure how that happened). Two guys were set back in the rhythm section.
Hozier proceeded to play 12 of the 13 songs from his debut album, starting with “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene,” on which he sings the swoony line, “Feeling more human and hooked on her flesh/I lay my heart down with the rest at her feet.”
The widely acclaimed album offers a pleasant range of styles and all the proper influences for adventurous young ears: “From Eden,” sounding like Vampire Weekend pulling from Paul Simon’s “Graceland”; the slow, bluesy groove of “Jackie and Wilson,” which nods to the R&B legend Jackie Wilson; the bouncy pop-soul of “Someone New,” a song that could have been a Van Morrison hit in his heyday.
On “To Be Alone,” he urged fans, “let’s see how your pipes are doing,” but what he really did on that song was reveal how he can play raw John Lee Hooker blues riffs with any of the Crossroads Fest guys. He did it acoustically on “Illinois Blues,” using, as he said, an Alvin Youngblood Hart arrangement of a Skip James song. Add in “Arsonist’s Lullabye,” a hard, nasty blues rocker from his second EP, and basically, it was a show where a blues fan dragged to the performance by a girlfriend, or boyfriend (less likely), could find a lot to like.
Another stand-out was “In a Week,” a graphic murder ballad sung as a gorgeous duet with Alana Henderson (who has her own solo career). It’s certainly a gruesome subject matter from a heartthrob: “And they’d find us in a week,” they sang, “When the buzzards get loud/After the insects have made their claim/ After the foxes have known our taste.”
The production was spare: no screens for close-ups and no fancy lighting; just a “HOZIER” backdrop and the occasional use of light bulbs glowing gold against blood-red stage lights.
Hozier brought the set to a finish with the cathedral-sized gospel-rock of “Sedated” and “Take Me to Church,” sung as perfectly as we hear it on the record. The encore mixed the intimacy of a solo acoustic “Cherry Wine,” a cover of Ariana Grande’s “Problem” played “just for funsies” (it wasn’t really that fun) and, finally, “Work Song,” a last bittersweet taste of death and romance.
Dawes continues to make a name for itself as a quality opening act. The L.A. band, which traffics in Laurel Canyon folk rock a la Jackson Browne, preceded Hozier with an eightsong set underscoring the narrative lyricism of frontman Taylor Goldsmith. Although not a thrilling live band, Dawes is solid, with lush harmonies and every song telling a story, such as “A Little of Everything,” which he introduced as being “about contemplating suicide, overeating and getting married.”
From its new fourth album, Dawes has an effective closing song in “All Your Favorite Bands,” which plays out like a toast with Mr. Goldsmith singing, “I hope all your favorite bands stay together.” The line drew cheers every time.