Review: Hozier Fenway Park 6/23
Photo Credit: Danielle Krantz
Review by Kendal Evans
I saw god at Fenway Park. And no, it wasn’t the Green Monstah. Instead, it was THE premier Irish artist to play there, Hozier. The night of Monday June 23rd, Hozier brought the afterlife (likely Hell, due to the blistering heat) to Boston as part of his Unreal, Unearth Tour.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who goes by the stage moniker Hozier, is the artist of a generation. Since releasing his smash hit “Take Me to Church” (which has since joined the exclusive billions club) and his debut album “Hozier,” he has continued to put out successful albums and become one of the strongest voices of activism in the current music industry. His most recent project, “Unreal, Unearth” (which has two deluxe versions, “Unending and Unaired”) is his most ambitious yet. It takes the listener on a journey through the nine circles of hell inspired by Dante’s Inferno. The singles “Eat Your Young” and “Too Sweet” have seen the most commercial success, with “Too Sweet” being his second addition to the aforementioned billions club.
The show opened with a set from Irish folk band Amble. I was unfamiliar with their music going in, but their overall chill energy and poetic lyricism made me a fast fan. During their set, the frontman Robbie Cunningham revealed that a year ago, he was an elementary school teacher in Dublin. Then, he spotted one of his former students, who flew all the way to Boston from Dublin, in the crowd. This made for easily the sweetest moment of the entire night, and brought happy tears to my eyes.
After Amble concluded their set, Gigi Perez took the stage as the second supporting act of the night. After the overnight viral success of her two singles “Sailor Song” and “Fable,” I was so excited to see what else she had to offer– and she did not disappoint. My favorite part of her set was her performance of “Sugar Water,” wherein she brought her younger sister Bella out on stage to sing harmonies with her. The song evoked a sense of homesickness for my home and younger sister in me that made me cry for the second time that night.
Then, as the scorching sun began its descent, Hozier took to the stage. The set opened with “Nobody’s Soldier” from Disc 1 of “Unending.” His stunning vocal performance of the song was accompanied by one of the most comprehensive stage setups I have ever seen: a large array of various instrumentalists, three backup vocalists, and an insane amount of detailed visuals. During this song, a bunch of retro TV screens flashing different news clips dropped from above, and a screen behind him flashed various statistics outlining the casualties of war, military spending, homelessness numbers, and more. It certainly set the tone that Hozier would not be toning down on his activism for his show, a move I highly respect especially given the current global political climate.
The set then moved into some songs from his previous albums, “Jackie and Wilson,” “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene,” and “Like Real People Do” then, “Dinner & Diatribes” and “Would That I.” During “Would That I,” I was so happy I got to experience the call-and-response format of the chorus live, joining in on the “oh’s.” It was so surreal hearing one of my favorites from that album in a venue as iconic as Fenway Park.
Next, Hozier did something unexpected: he announced he was going to play a cover that he had never played in front of an audience before. He gave a quick introduction about how this song would foster a sense of home for this American audience, then got into performing “Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison. I grew up listening to Van Morrison, so this was incredibly nostalgic.
The set then moved back to songs from “Unreal, Unearth” – “De Selby (Part 1),” “De Selby (Part 2),” and “Francesca,” which happen to be three of my favorites from the album. A large portion of “De Selby (Part 1) is sung in Irish, and the display carried an English translation of the lyrics. He then played “It Will Come Back” from “Hozier,” which is one of his most underrated songs. He followed it up with “Too Sweet” which is easily his most overrated song– it may be his most palatable and popular, but popular isn’t always best.
However, the set immediately picked the pace back up with three consecutive bangers: “Someone New,” “Almost (Sweet Music),” and “Movement.” This run was incredible, but “Movement” stood out the most to me, as the vocals in the bridge and final chorus had me quite literally ascending to heaven. Special shoutouts to his three main backup vocalists here, as they brought an angelic vibe to the song that was so awe-inspiring to hear live.
The main set then closed out with “Take Me to Church,” an example of a not overrated smash hit! I will never get sick of hearing Hozier sing this song, nor the messaging behind it that empowers the queer community. At the finale of the song, he brought out a rainbow flag with the message “Be The Hope” written on it, a call to action for his fans to love, support, and rally for the queer community, whether as members or as allies.
I don’t normally like encores, but I will make a singular exception for Hozier’s encore at this show. He first moved to a B-Stage (which happened to be right behind me) and performed two acoustic versions of his songs that I really love: “Cherry Wine” and “Unknown/ Nth.” It was surreal being so close to the legend himself. I thought my turf seats were good during the main set, but this part blew my mind.
After this came, without a doubt, the most powerful performance of the night. Hozier made his way back to the main stage and gave a powerful speech on the process of recording his legendary song “Nina Cried Power” with Mavis Staples, and the importance of using voices of compassion and activism in songwriting; from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, to the Irish Civil Rights movement, to the current protests against global war and the American political establishment. He then performed the song, with his vocalist Amanda Brown singing Mavis’ part. During the performance, the screens lit up with artists who have used their voices to serve and uplift marginalized communities in their songs– from Marvin Gaye, to Bob Dylan, to Bruce Springsteen, to Rage Against the Machine, to Kendrick Lamar, to Nehmasis– artists across genres and generations were represented in his shoutout. It was also during this song that I cried for the third time that night.
The encore then concluded with “Work Song,” another favorite of mine. It has become a kind of tradition for artists to join Hozier in performing this song, and that night, it was Gigi Perez who took the stage along with him. If Gigi didn’t wow me before (which she did), she definitely wowed me here. Their voices blended together beautifully, and the air quite literally left my lungs when they joined together in harmony on the chorus, with Hozier taking the high harmony and Gigi taking the melody.
After they gave their final bows and left the stage, I was emotionally wrecked in the best way. I left Fenway Park, surrounded by fans, as “Sweet Caroline” blared through the speakers– per Boston tradition. This concert was a bucket-list experience for me, and I would recommend that anyone see Hozier at least once in their lifetime.