Live Review: Hozier @ The Anthem — 11/18/19

Posted on 11/22/2019 by Matt Ruppert in Live Review and tagged blues, folk, Hozier, Ireland, R&B, soul, The Anthem.

Hozier performs at The Anthem on Nov. 18, 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)

Something happens in the mind when music washes over us, replete with that familiar sense of a life lived — of politics, of being a human, a lover, part of a family — balanced with the urge to dance and lose ourselves, if only for a moment. It feels like something real and honest, yet still somehow something almost frivolous.

I am reminded well of something Hozier’s music has long done — it treads the tenuous line between the sacred and the profane. The crowd singing along, and if I close my eyes, I can smell the scent of incense, see the stained-glass smiles of saints. Is this so different? Are the people on the rails not worthy of sainthood? Aren’t we all, in our ways, very nearly worthy? At the very least, do the sacrifices demanded of so many not reach into martyrdom? Not so much in the theistic sense, but the realistic one.

Live Review: Angie McMahon @ The Anthem — 11/18/19

Posted on 11/22/2019 by Matt Ruppert in Live Review and tagged Angie McMahon, Australia, Hozier, indie rock, The Anthem.

Angie McMahon performs at The Anthem on Nov. 18, 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)

Something strange happens when traveling new paths, when getting a little lost. There is a fervor, a little fear, and plenty of excitement. This sensation, this blush of discovery, so often pervades the experience of new music.

And so it was for me with Angie McMahon’s music. I remember the first time I played Salt, well-past the sun’s setting but not yet in the black of night, her dusky powerhouse voice soaring out my car’s windows. I felt a little something break inside.

Preview: Angie McMahon @ The Anthem, 11/18/19

Posted on 11/08/2019 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged Angie McMahon, Australia, Hozier, indie rock, The Anthem.

Angie McMahon (Photo by Paige Clark)

Australian songwriter Angie McMahon released Salt, her riff-heavy and anthemic debut album, over the summer on Dualtone Records. She’s on tour to open for Hozier at The Anthem on Monday, Nov. 18, and we recommend that you show up early to catch her show!

Live Review: Hozier @ Hippodrome Theatre — 3/13/19

Posted on 03/18/2019 by Matt Ruppert in Live Review and tagged blues, folk, Hippodrome Theatre, Hozier, Ireland, R&B, soul.

Hozier performs at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore on March 13, 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert).

Filled seats, flashing lights, rattling rafters, and the kind of folk-soul hybrid that shakes the soul and moves the feet. This defined the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore recently as Hozier took an audience’s hearts in his hands then broke and reconstituted them.

Music Park: Hozier @ Lincoln Theatre — 10/2/18

Posted on 10/08/2018 by Mark Caicedo in Live Review and tagged blues, folk, Hozier, Ireland, Lincoln Theatre, R&B, soul.

Hozier performs at the Lincoln Theatre on Oct. 2, 2018. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)

The sell-out crowd for Hozier’s Lincoln Theater appearance recently was a standing-room, line-the-walls affair, which had the entire crowd up and dancing from the moment he walked onstage.

Music Park: Hudson Taylor @ Lincoln Theatre — 10/2/18

Posted on 10/05/2018 by Mark Caicedo in Live Review and tagged Americana, Dublin, folk, Hozier, Hudson Taylor, Ireland, Lincoln Theatre.

Hudson Taylor perform at the Lincoln Theatre on Oct. 2, 2018. (Photo by Marc Caicedo)

Harry and Alfie Hudson-Taylor have assembled friends and family for their current tour, opening Hozier. On Tuesday night at the Lincoln Theatre, with their high energy tunes, soaring harmonies and expert musicianship, they had the crowd asking for more after a brief, but hugely satisfying opening set.