Starting with “Eat Your Young” and ending with crowd-favorite, “Take Me To Church,” Irish singer-songwriter Hozier drew a massive crowd at the northernmost stadium of Lollapalooza during its opening night.
Taking Bud Light stage at 8:30 p.m., Hozier sang “Eat Your Young” — the title track of his latest EP and included in his last album “Unreal Unearth.” As crowds continued to fill the field, Hozier greeted the festival goers, noting he’s thankful to be back in Chicago.
His next song teased a new release: “Nobody’s Soldier” is not out on any platforms, and Hozier debuted it on Thursday. The funky beat increased the level of enthusiasm early into his set, with attendees dancing with their arms up to the beat Hozier set with a tambourine in hand.
“Jackie and Wilson,” a song off his first studio album, played next. Upbeat yet classy, it matched well with the mood of the next two songs, “From Eden” and “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene.”
The three songs in tandem hyped the already excited crowd up further, and when “Francesca,” a song from his latest album came on, the audience was sold.
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But as Hozier took to track eight of his headlining-setlist, the crowd’s roar quickly dispersed. It was just him and his guitar on the stage, and after asking attendees to sing along if they knew the words, “Cherry Wine” brought a bittersweet passion to the energetic audience.
Keeping a similar tempo, “Work Song” followed the acoustic “Cherry Wine.” Sways began to repopulate among the audience, and when “Would That I” followed just a track later, slow dancing was seen throughout it — like one giant sway.
After the downbeat moment, however, Hozier began a moving speech about power. Introducing the next song as one dedicated to protests and resistance, Hozier spent some time discussing the importance of protests against injustice and urged people to call their representatives to demand a ceasefire in the Middle East — specifically in Gaza.
“We wouldn’t want to see any other human being subject to the kind of violence we’ve seen in Gaza (in these last few months),” Hozier said.
Crowds erupted with cheers in solidarity throughout this introduction to “Nina Cried Power,” a song off his 2019 album “Wasteland, Baby!” And the energy kept increasing from here.
“Almost (Sweet Music)” played next, one of Hozier’s more popular songs which featured Cameron Boyce in its music video. It brought lots of laughter and light-hearted fun in its wake, and transitioned smoothly into the next number, his latest hit.
Reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Too Sweet” has made a name for itself throughout the globe. At Lollapalooza, it was no different. It seemed as though everyone in the crowd was singing along, at the very least to its chorus. And if an attendee wasn’t singing, they were dancing to its beat.
The energy was soaring as the set reached its second to last song, “Movement.” Between the last-played song and the closing number, “Movement” wasn’t quite as popular, lyric-wise, but the energy was still the same.
Hozier’s final number — easily his most popular song with over two billion streams — was “Take Me to Church.” Almost every festival-goer at the Bud Light stage had their arms up during this number, and when Hozier gave up the mic to hear from the audience, it did not disappoint.
Between debuting a new song and invigorating the crowd with a household name, Hozier’s entire setlist, from beginning to end, brought excitement and feeling to the crowd. Throughout the set, he also thanked audience members for being there and continuing to look out for each other as they enjoyed the festival.
Also thanking the festival attendees, Hozier mentioned it was his third time at the festival; “Thank you, so so much, Lollapalooza, for having me,” he said.
