Snow, Ice, Hozier…Oh my!

Typical Chicago weather hit last night and of course that didn’t stop Hozier fans from attending his show at the Riviera Theatre. After trucking myself and my camera gear up north of the city, I found myself in the crowd of Hozier listeners. I got my gear ready to photograph the first artists on the lineup.

Asgier is an Icelandic singer who has emerged as an international artist. With this album ‘In the Silence’ in this pocket, he had the crowd swaying and held their attention as he performed. His soothing voice with melodic beats makes his overall sound very unique and refreshing to the ear. As I exited the pit I made my way into the crowd to enjoy the rest of his set. More fans of Hozier walked in and one man asked who was playing. As I told him it was Asgier, he pulled out his phone to take down his name. I highly recommend listening and watching his music video for “King and Cross”; you can thank me later.

The Riviera Theatre was becoming more filled with people and that’s when security told me “you know it’s a sold out show right?” Clearly Chicago is one of Hozier’s biggest fans. It’s understandable why too, with his voice that can range from deep to hitting pitches in his hit song “Take Me to Church”; I was excited to see what his live performance would be like.

As the photographers entered the pit I started to adjust my settings when a stage crew person brought a hot cup of tea to the stand. So I take it that Hozier is a fan of tea; wonder if he would like Chilean tea. Anyways, when the lights were turned off the the stage lit up I was amazed by the group that Hozier was traveling with. With guitarists, backup, singers, a drummer, and a cellist! I was certainly impressed and anxious to see what was about to happen.

Andrew Hozier-Byrne took the stage and the crowd cheered as she started off singing. This man’s voice is just as captivating in person as you may hear it on the radio, maybe even more. For a brief second I had forgotten to start photographing the show. The production, the crew, and the music was amazing and really happy that I got the chance to capture this show. Make sure you put “seeing Hozier live” on the top of things to do; you won’t regret it. Be sure to take a peek at some of the photos I took for UIC Radio.

The only down side to the show is that my press sticker fell off my leg when I left the pit (it looked really nice too). I love collecting my photo passes and sticker; so pretty dumbed out about that.