By the end of the night at Paradise Rock Club, view there were likely a few pieces of candy corn on the floor and quite a bit of silly string. Hozier pulled out all of the stops in a unique show on Halloween night.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne, order the 24-year-old Irish singer-songwriter, came to the stage dressed as Slender Man, his face fully covered in a white mask. It was a wonder how he played the set opener, “Like Real People Do,” without being able to really see. It must have gotten old quickly, as he pulled off the mask to reveal skeleton face paint.
More on the Halloween antics later – onto the music. Hozier’s set was very good, performing almost every song from the self-titled debut record. “To Be Alone,” the bluesy track that Hozier normally performs solo, had a full-band punch this time around.
The moment that stole the show was Hozier and vocalist Alana Henderson’s duet on “In A Week.” It’s a sleepy track on the record, but in a live setting Henderson and Hozier’s voices complimented each other very well. (The studio version features non-band member Karen Cowley.)
Earlier in the set they performed “Jackie and Wilson,” which is a soulful pop tune that seems destined to find itself in a star-studded romantic comedy named after a holiday like “Valentine’s Day.” Taylor Swift would probably cameo.
Hozier closed the main set with the barnstorming single that catapulted him to festival appearances around the world and appeared in a LeBron James Beats ad, “Take Me To Church.”
If there was a misstep, it was from the last song of the evening, as “From Eden” sounded a bit off. It’s unclear whether it was a poor guitar tuning job or the sound moved down an octave to accommodate the wonderful backup singers’ range.
That didn’t put a damper on the evening, however. Hozier is a soulful singer and expert guitar player. It’s easy to marvel his fingerpicking skills, making it no wonder he has mainstream appeal, even though it’s impossible to classify him in a genre – adult contemporary, maybe?
But back to Halloween: Hozier’s band was dressed in a diverse set of costumes and face paint concoctions. Hozier seemed to take glee in the holiday, stopping to tell a story about how Celtic traditions were some of the earliest forms of Halloween. When the band rejoined him after a run of solo songs, the group threw candy to the crowd (I had exactly one Whopper from a fun size package). He also paused early on to compliment, uh, someone (me) in the crowd’s poop emoji mask, saying “Nice doodoo head.”
Halloween night proved to probably be one of the most unique shows on Hozier’s tour, and Boston got a few treats.
England’s James Bay opened, performing guitar pop in the vein of singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran. With songwriting that appears to be tailor-made for radio play and cloying choruses, it was tough to find a lot of substance there.
Hozier returns to Boston in March, playing the House of Blues, and good luck buying a ticket – it’s already sold out and resale tickets are hovering around $100.
