A year ago, sometime around the end of Thanksgiving, I went to my first concert and it was one of the best days of my life. I’ll first give you a little bit of an overview. We all go through those strange periods in our lives where we stray away from the music that we hear on the radio that blasts in the car and make our first Spotify account and discover music that isn’t so mainstream. For me, this was 2016 and I was 12 years old. I had added a bunch of songs to my playlist that were mostly throwbacks that reminded me of summer camps and stupid memories. But one day my sister and I were lying on my bed and she goes “There’s a song that I need to show you” and I was like “Huh?” and she played it for me and it opened up an entire genre of music that completely changed my life. The song was “Like Real People Do” by Hozier.
At that moment I feel like something clicked. I always gravitated towards a specific kind of music but never really had a word for it. With my extremely limited 12 year old exposure to music, after hearing this song, it was everything I looked for in a song and it was like my gateway song into music - real music - that felt like it belonged to me.
After hearing that song, I became obsessed with his music. He plays rock, alternative, indie folk, and blues. I was completely helpless. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to a lot of other music, but his music and his first album are untouchable.
In 2019, he released his new album “Wasteland, Baby!” and went on his world tour. After he finished his tour in the U.S., he added five more shows in NYC. I never dreamed that I would ever ever ever go to see him live in concert. Since I have super stereotypical Asian parents, they aren’t really cool with me and my sister taking a train to the city to go to a rock concert at a ballroom. I just assumed that they would never let me go and that was that. After I found out that my older sister was coming back home for Thanksgiving break, I was like “Hm maybe she could take us.” I remember asking my parents at dinner, expecting them to say no and by some miracle, my dad was like “sure.” I was in disbelief. I literally couldn’t believe that he would let me go. That whole night I was just freaking out and super crazy excited that I would go to see my favorite artist of all time live. I forgot about my bio test the next day and was just so overwhelmed and excited. The shows were all already sold out, but my older sister found some resale tickets and got them.
The concert was on November 26th, 2019 and was the last show of his entire world tour. I felt so lucky that I literally snagged my last chance to see him live before he spends five years writing a new album. I remember coming home from school and getting ready and taking a train
into the city. The concert was at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, which is an ornate and baroque style ballroom that had been transformed into a performance venue. I remember waiting and standing for like fifty years waiting for the show to start and standing because the
only seats were balcony seats. It was like a not-sweaty mosh pit. At around 9, there was a pre-show by a new singer I had never heard of named Angie McMahon. Her voice was so unique and was similar to Florence Welch. She played Slow Mover, Soon, Pasta and other songs I can’t remember but if you like alternative and like indie rock, you should definitely check her out! When Hozier came onto the stage I was breathless. We were SO CLOSE to the stage and the first thing I noticed was how tall he was lmao. He’s like 6’7’’. He started his set with “As it was” which was a slow kind of ballad and the second song was “Dinner and Diatribes.” The energy that filled the room was electrifying. The drummer started with a simple intro that was pulsating from the speakers and the lights were red and kept time to the beat and then the guitar came in and everything looked and felt like it was on fire.
The next song that really stood out to me was “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene.” I cannot stress just how amazing Hozier is live. His energy and his passion elevates his music to a completely different level. I honestly wish that he would record a live version of his album like he did for his first album called “Live in America” (which has my FAVORITE recordings of his songs). Anyways, in the background while he was singing was the coolest cartoon ever. It was like this grid black and white cartoon from some old TV show and it was just very aesthetic and intriguing.
Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene Clip
After this, he played “Nobody,” which is one of my most favorite songs on the new album. It was so full of energy and you just get this intoxicating feeling of inexplicable bliss and you’re singing at the top of your lungs and screaming and smiling so much it hurts.
Something extra special that night was that he played an unreleased song called “But the Wages.” It is a pretty loaded political song that talks about wage gaps and how business is rising but wages continue to remain stagnant. But the Wages - Unreleased Live Version
Perhaps my favorite song that night was Hozier’s performance of “From Eden.” It was a slowed down acoustic version with some strings in the background, and it was angelic. The harmonies were so compatible, and I had never heard him sing the song like that before. This is a really good recording of the song: From Eden - LIVE
Shrike was another song that had really cool visual effects where there were these golden kinds of tall grass looking projections that moved across the ballroom ceiling that really emphasize the baroque and vintage looking embellishments in the room.
Jackie and Wilson is my favorite song that he performs live, and a really good recording of it is on the Live from America album. There’s not really much to say about this performance except that it felt like pure adrenaline was running through my veins while I listened to him. Here’s a clip of the song that I took on my phone Jackie and Wilson (LIVE) .
At the end of the concert, he played the encore which was “Cherry Wine” and “Work Song.” These two are two of my most favorite songs by him in general and are favorites by many. Unfortunately, my mom was being annoying and wanted us to catch an earlier train so we would get home by 1 a.m. We didn’t. So we stayed but we moved a little bit farther from the stage so we could get out of the ballroom faster.
Once the night was over, it was around 12:30 a.m. and I was sweaty, tired, and thirsty. After the concert we went to the nearby McDonald’s and got large drinks and walked to Penn Station where we waited for a train back home. It was around 2:30 a.m. when I got home and I collapsed in bed and woke up the next morning and took an AP Chem quiz that I definitely did not do very well on. Everytime I listen to his music I’m reminded of that experience and am forever grateful for the power his music holds.