“It is so f*cking good to be back in New Zealand”, Hozier told the crowd inside Auckland’s Spark Arena on Wednesday night.
Hozier’s Unreal Unearth album was inspired by the Nine Circles of Hell — realms of different sins — from Dante’s Inferno. Interestingly, his live show brought to mind gluttony: behind Hozier at times was a visual of an endless feast, with food lining a table well past the eye can see.
He opened with “De Selby (Part 1)” and its sequel, thrilling the crowd with his powerful vocals and impressive band; cello, vocoder, violin and synths propelled the usual backbone of guitar, drums and bass.
There were such idiosyncratic touches throughout Hozier’s set, and it was a particular delight to see Irish subtitles and their English translations appear on the screen during his bilingual anthems.
It all felt spiritual, really, as the musicians and onscreen animations reinforced the proud Irish singer’s background and his love for philosophy and poetry.
Image: Hozier Credit: Danielle Hao-Aickin
However, as much as Hozier fed our appetites with fan favourites such as the timeless “Take Me to Church”, “Someone New”, and “Too Sweet”, he later warned the crowd of the privileges that we can become too comfortable with.
“I feel quite moved to be here, where thousands and thousands of people take to the streets,” Hozier said. “Democracies and protests, the rights we take for granted every single day… These things are so easily forgotten about and so easily lost.”
He related his support of the civil rights movements in Ireland to New Zealand’s current protests against the Treaty Principles Bill. “We want to see [the authorities] stand up for treaties that were signed centuries ago,” Hozier clarified.
Earlier in the evening, opening act Joy Oladokun covered the Beatles’ “Blackbird”, which is widely known to be inspired by its own 1960s civil rights movement. The US artist was as open about pushing back against injustice as Hozier, as she talked about being a black and queer woman. “I don’t know if you can tell by my whole thing but I’m a little queer”, she giggled.
Image: Joy Oladokun Credit: Danielle Hao-Aickin
In the concert’s first half, fake, upside-down trees emerged from the stage ceiling. Their significance shifted as Hozier expressed his concern about the “stripping away of Indigenous rights”, a concern that hundreds of thousands currently protesting around Aotearoa share. It’s as if this country’s history is becoming flipped itself — our own trees and the ground we stand upon are at risk of being uprooted.
Hozier later steered his speech back to hope, to “the small ways, everyday, that people show up for each other.” The crowd rumbled and clapped each time he mentioned other social rights issues, including the ongoing war in Gaza, Islamaphobia, reproductive rights, and gay rights. “Thank you for letting me speak from the heart for one moment,” he concluded.
Hozier gifted the crowd with a four-song encore, including the rousing “Nina Cried Power”. He made a beeline through the general swarm to reach a surprise B Stage near the middle of the floor. He took the time to individually thank his band twice overall, demonstrating the kindness and appreciation he consistently preaches.
While he spoilt Auckland with so many songs from his vast discography, Hozier left many of us feeling understood and more than thoroughly backed. Hozier’s show was, of course, about the music, but it was also a call to action: “everyday empathy, everyday compassion”, as he implored.
Hozier is performing two more shows in Christchurch on his New Zealand tour. Tickets are available via Live Nation.
