Written by Joe Potter
The crowd that gathers at Castlefield Bowl, on a typically overcast Manchester day, are excited from the moment that the doors open. The choicest spots to watch the most wholesome cult leader of today’s musical landscape are swallowed in seconds, and it becomes clear neither man nor machine would shake the Hozier faithful from their fortifications, adorned with rainbow flags and stunning outfits.
The roar as Victoria Canal introduces herself is as warm a welcome as any support act could hope for. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter is dwarfed by the size of the stage, which may have led to nerves if not for the audience’s immediate infatuation with the singer’s vulnerable, honest, and intimate set. Her rendition of Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Motion Sickness’ got one of the loudest cheers of the entire evening, and more follow as she announces she is returning soon for a gig at the Deaf Institute. The highlight of the performance came in the penultimate piece, ‘swan song’.
The sun breaks through the infamous Manchester grey to wash across the faces of fans as Victoria Canal dedicates the piece to her father. In that moment, singer and nature seem to intertwine, the heat ebbing and flowing as Victoria Canal pours her heart out. Magical.
There is a shock to the system as second support The Teskey Brothers arrive with their soulful, bluesy rock. But as Josh Teskey’s set of pipes begin to ring out, surprise changes to warmth, and the infectious joy of this band spreads like a contagion (an image I doubt many struggle to conjure in 2023). Their Motown-inspired sound is as powerful an earworm as any I’ve heard; I dare you to put down ‘So Caught Up’ once you’ve heard it live.
Josh Teskey sings from somewhere deeper than the diaphragm, as Blues greats like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett drip from every note that rings out. The secret to the success of this sound is chemistry, most evidently between the brothers themselves.
It takes me till ‘Pain and Misery’ to realise both brothers sing out across every record, with Sam Teskey simply letting his guitar do the talking. Every string bend a bellowing laugh, every pull-off a tear drop, a triumph of emotion. In their second intervention of the evening, deities beyond our comprehension wait for the performance of the popular single ‘Rain’, and as Josh Teskey screams the opening line, “Is that rain?” the heavens open. The band are left laughing in disbelief and Josh finishes the piece stating “That’s the coolest thing to ever happen to us.” Josh Teskey leads the band in a bow, thanks the fans and the rain in equal measure, and walks off to raucous applause.
As Hozier takes to the stage, the screams that follow speak to four years of longing since his last visit to Manchester. So as the first notes of ‘Eat your Young’ ring out, the screams are a tincture of relief, excitement, and unbridled joy. The eight-piece band are brimming with passion and talent, Larissa Maestro holds to their namesake while wielding the cello and combines beautifully with Hozier’s voice over the first song, taken from his upcoming album Unreal Unearth. The song merges politics and folklore into his own trademark style of grotesque beauty, a style this audience laps up gratefully.
Fan favourites ‘Jackie and Wilson’ and ‘From Eden’ are to follow, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone not belting out the lyrics. It’s been nine years since Hozier’s self-titled debut album, but there is no hint of a disconnect between the artist and his earlier work. Both pride and joy are painted across the singer’s face as thousands packed into the Bowl threaten to drown out the speakers with their own renditions.
The double salvo of ‘To Be Alone’ and ‘Dinner & Diatribes’ would have blown the roof off the venue if there was one to speak of. Hozier excels off a deep, dark bassline; it moulds his voice into something reminiscent of honey drizzled over thunder, sweet to the ear with an unfathomable depth hiding below the surface. Hozier’s lifelong collaborator, bassist Alex Ryan, is integral to this sound, the relationship leads to bursts of emotion on stage that delight the audience. It’s the sort of giddy fun you can only have with a childhood friend who knows you inside and out, and with that knowledge Ryan gives Hozier’s voice the platform to soar, or dive, to altitudes unknown.
After a heated performance of new release ‘Francesca’, from which Drummer Rory Doyle manages to drag the eyes away from the charismatic front man with nothing but a couple of drumsticks and enough energy to put a car battery to shame, we are given the first drop in tempo since the performance began. A solo performance of ‘Cherry Wine’ is soon to put to shame as Hozier invites Victoria Canal back to the stage to perform a duet of ‘Like Real People Do’. A daunting task for any singer, Victoria pairs with Hozier better than I dared hope. A hypnotic performance that has every eye transfixed. You won’t have noticed you were crying till you feel the tears on your face.
To no one’s surprise, ‘Take Me to Church’ precedes the encore and miraculously lives up to the hype. In the ten years since this debut single was released, I couldn’t count how many times I’ve screamed it in club and car alike, so to hear it live is nothing less than religiously cathartic. As the sky again becomes a sheet of grey, red lights flood the stage and the whole band resembles an oil painting in motion,
complimenting the religious iconography to utter perfection.
To put new release ‘Unknown’ in the encore seems a risk, as the slow melodic number released only a couple weeks before the performance wasn’t sure to be an audience favourite, but it highlights why every Hozier fan should be excited about the new album. Hozier isn’t just using his voice as his not-so-secret weapon; his ability to craft a song has also improved. Armed with a cherry red Stratocaster, he reminds me of a mouse trap. The slow, teasing riff is the cheese luring the listeners in, and with one tentative nibble you’ll miss his voice crashing down like thunder on your neck, ensnaring you forever more.
And thus ends a night filled with talent from start to finish, along with a set of fans to rival any cult and a main act who is only going from strength to strength. A singer who gives passion and pleasure while working through a back catalogue, Hozier still manages to inspire genuine excitement for the future.
