Hozier’s Hero’s Welcome in L.A. Isn’t ‘Too Sweet’ — It’s Just Right for One of Rock’s Most Deserving Talents: Concert Review
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Hozier didn’t talk at great length more than a couple of times during the opening of his three-night stand at L.A.’s Kia Forum this week, but when he did, he picked some winning subjects.
Introducing “Wildflower and Barley,” he spoke about beekeeping, a hobby he took up while living alone in the Irish countryside, and the effects he observed of the tiniest changes on homing instincts at a difficult climate and elevation.
And then later, during the encores, while his band vamped for six or seven minutes through the instrumental intro to “Nina Cried Power,” he talked about the effect of the tiniest changes in human behavior on cultural shifts, drawing links between the grass roots of women’s suffrage, America’s civil rights movement, LGBTQ rights and the need for a negotiated peace in Gaza.
Somewhere between these two speeches, it occurred to me that Hozier is the best youngish, mainstream rock star we’ve got right now.
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