Bangor, Maine might be the furthest I’ve traveled for a concert – some 271 miles from my hometown, and over 350 miles from Hamden. Every single mile was worth it to hear Hozier perform.  The moment finally arrived on Wednesday, July 24, and the sold-out stop at the Maine Savings Amphitheater marked Hozier’s return to the US after a run of European shows. The amphitheater was packed with concert-goers, young and old alike, dressed in flowing skirts, lace patterns, and earth tones. The merch line snaked for what may have been miles. This was it, the show I had been waiting months for. 

Hozier’s wordless arrival on stage alongside his 8-piece ensemble was met with tumultuous applause, as he opened with “De Selby (Part 1).” This song is mirrored into two halves, with the latter half being an echo of the first’s themes in Irish. The final moments of the track bleed right into the appropriately named “De Selby (Part 2),” and the two tracks combined represent the descent into “Dante’s Inferno,” the literary basis for “Unreal Unearth.”

The stage was set up with two tiers, and the ensemble was set against a textured cloth backdrop that would proceed to be illuminated the whole night. Along the back tier resided a variety of percussion instruments, including a full drum set and two different types of keys, as well as two backup vocalists. The front tier held the string players, who rotated instruments throughout the night, and Hozier himself was front and center. The projections featured album art from all three records, colorful landscapes, clips from music videos, and other supporting visual media. 

This introduction was followed by a series of songs from his debut self-titled album; “From Eden,” “Jackie and Wilson,” and “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene.” The entire show spanned tracks from across Hozier’s releases, and the show felt quite well-balanced. The first track played from his sophomore album was “Dinner & Diatribes,” which was followed by “Francesca” and “It Will Come Back.” During the final refrain of “Francesca,” as Hozier repeats the line “Heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I,” a prop began to drop from the ceiling. Mirrored in shapes being cast onto the projection screen, a row of massive root props begin to take hold along the top of the stage.

Following “It Will Come Back,” his band walked off stage leaving just Hozier and his guitar in front of the crowd. A red moon dropped down on the projection behind him, and the opening notes to “Cherry Wine” began. After the song concluded, the band paraded back onstage to perform “I, Carrion (Icarian)” and “Like Real People Do.” Opening artist Allison Russell was then brought out to perform “Wildflower and Barley,” one of very few Hozier songs with a featured artist.

The further into the hour-and-a-half long set, the louder the crowd seemed to be, and the final six songs of the main setlist were some of his most popular tracks – “Would That I,” “Too Sweet,” “Almost (Sweet Music),” “Eat Your Young,” “Movement,” and “Take Me To Church.” The energy in the venue kept building as he made his way through the setlist, and by this point, the energy had reached a climax. That was when the band wordlessly walked off stage. 

The crowd didn’t want the show to end – and neither did Hozier. After a brief tease with thousands chanting for an encore, Hozier strolled back onstage as though he had never left. He used this encore, and the rapt audience hanging on his words, to speak out for civil rights worldwide. He spoke on international conflict, women’s rights, marriage equality, labor laws, and a lot of civil progress that’s been made in Ireland, his home nation. He urged the audience to remember the importance of caring for one another. 

“I think at their core that people are good, I think people want to live good lives and they want that for other people, in the same way that we wouldn’t want to see our neighbors… live in the shadow of hatred or in the shadow of fear.”

He urged concertgoers to use their voices for good; to reach out to their representatives, to vote, to speak up in cases of injustice. Hozier’s music has always had political value, all the way back to his first release. Following his seven-and-a-half-minute speech, he proceeded to perform “Nina Cried Power,” one of his most political songs to date.

The night ended with performances of “Unknown/Nth” and “Work Song,” two songs fueled by longing and deeply rooted yearning. Allison Russel made another appearance on stage to perform “Work Song.”

When you see your favorite artist live for the first time, there’s always a bit of risk involved. What if they don’t sound as good live? What if the artist doesn’t talk at all or engage with the audience? What if the setlist is disappointing? Hozier’s show was the flip side of all of these fears – I genuinely could not have asked for a better show. The only hope now is that I’ll be lucky enough to experience it again. 

Since the Maine show, Hozier has also begun teasing new music. In a short video shared on Hozier’s official accounts, he teased a snippet of a track titled “July” and shared that another EP was coming soon. Clips from another track, “Nobody’s Soldier,” have also been circulating social media. This follows the “Unheard” EP released in March, adding on to the 16-track “Unreal Unearth” album’s collection. Before now, Hozier was known to release music rather sparsely, leaving 4 to 5 years between albums with singles few and far between. With no official release date yet, my fingers are crossed for new tracks in August.