Chicago has always been a storybook place for Irish bard Hozier.
A decade ago, when he was first coming up in the scene amid the mammoth success of “Take Me To Church,” he did a special WXRT-FM showcase at the Double Door. In 2018, he came back to Chicago to record the incredible “Nina Cried Power” with one of his personal “heroes” Mavis Staples.
On Thursday night, Hozier made his third trip to Lollapalooza a total charm with a headline spot he’s always deserved.
It was a bit of a gamble for the festival: Could the deep-thinking singer-songwriter stand up against rap and R&B queens, K-pop, synth rock dynamos and pop punk legends?
The answer is a resounding yes.
With a larger-than-expected crowd in attendance for the set, Hozier used his platform well. Not just in delivering a passionate lineup of folk rock protest songs, blues guitar-driven rock anthems and Sunday-best soul and gospel on “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene” and the live debut of “Nobody’s Soldier” but also in delivering a powerful message or two.
“I wrote this song in tribute to the legacy of protest, and all we have to be thankful that has been achieved by people organizing for change,” he said, ahead of “Nina Cried Power,” which didn’t include a guest spot by Ms. Mavis but had her in mind all the same. “The Staples Sisters were a big part of the Civil Rights Movement in the ‘60s, and that always interested me as an Irishman,” he added, a reference perhaps to the the similarly timed origin of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in 1967.
Hozier brought it full-circle to the Israel-Hamas War while calling for a ceasefire. “We’ve been playing this song for nine months now as tribute to those who have contacted their representatives and put their feet on the street in honest goodwill and human witness of the lived experience of other people on the other side of the world … It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter if you are an Israeli citizen or Palestinian citizen, you wouldn’t want to see any human being be subject to the kind of terror we have been witnessing.”
As the singer and his hugely talented ensemble (including a keyboardist, bassist, guitarist/violinist, cellist, drummer and two backup singers) ripped into a heart-pounding take on the song, the moody skies that had been percolating all day opened up and started raining down in a symbolic moment of collective tears.
“Thanks for this rainfall, it’s very welcome and makes me feel like home,” Hozier shared before wrapping up the set with the giant singalong of “Take Me To Church.”
In many ways, Hozier has become the patron saint of modern Irish folk hymns; his songs are poised to become time-honored, traditional music that we’ll enjoy over a pint or two down the road for decades to come.
Hozier Lollapalooza set list
- Eat Your Young
- Nobody’s Soldier
- Jackie and Wilson
- From Eden
- Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene
- Dinner & Diatribes
- Francesca
- Cherry Wine
- Work Song
- De Selby (Part 2)
- Would That I
- Nina Cried Power
- Almost (Sweet Music)
- Too Sweet
- Movement
- Take Me To Church