Hozier and Friends entice the crowd at Finsbury Park

On the 7th of July, 2024, Hozier played the largest show of his career at London Finsbury Park. After a very rainy and muddy start, the English weather came through and brought us a sunny evening to enjoy Hozier’s Concert.  Before his show started, three amazing artists were supporting him.

First up was Ye Vagabonds, an Irish folk band. Starting at 2 pm, they created the cozy indie-folk vibe for the day. Although it rained for the whole first hour, the music made it enjoyable. The brother duo sang harmoniously and were influenced by Irish traditional music, which was clearly hearable in their sound.

My personal favorites were „Lowlands of Holland, “„An Island, “ and “Danny.”  It was the first time for us to see them live, generally Hozier newly introduced us to this great band. A band and a sound you wouldn’t want to miss, especially if you like (Irish) folk music and Hozier!

After a round of talks with fans and having some summery drinks, the set of Lord Huron started with “Into The Woods” and “Dead Man’s Hand”. This was definitely something that we were looking forward to prior to coming. After listening to the American indie-rock band for years, we were finally able to see them perform live.

Surprisingly, Lord Huron are a real powerhouse on stage! We did not expect such a “show“ that they delivered. The band did not only performed an amazing live sound but also brought probs & jokes to the table. Our highlight was definitely when the frontman, Ben Schneider, used a telephone as a microphone during songs like “Secret Life” and “Ancient Names (pt.1). Moreover, to finally hear the beautiful lyrics to “The Night We Met” live was a delight. After this great show, we realized that the band are four rockers in Indie Bodies.

In between the last support act, we enjoyed one of the various food wagons. There really was something for everyone’s needs. Generally, the concert grounds, including the VIP Area, were greatly organized and had enough of everything - even sanitary areas.

When the powerful Brittany Howard entered the stage, people were cheering loudly. Hozier fans already know the American Blues-rock artist due to his multiple praises of the artists. Her strong voice electrized the fans, and her groovy vibe was perfect before the main show started. Her song „Another Day“ was a favorite, and her songs „Stay High“ and „Earth Sign“ were clearly loved by the many people around us.

Once the man of the night came to the stage around 7:15 pm, he started with „Eat Your Young“, and the crowd could not contain their great excitement.

After a few great songs, Hozier let his hair down during the sounds of  “Dinner and Diabtribes” & “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene”, followed by the consuming and melodic song  “Francesca” from his new album. Definitely three live favorites of us!

The whole night the fans could see that Hozier was very much enjoying his biggest live show to date. He was jamming his songs with big smiles and sometimes seemed very touched to play his biggest crowd to date. He sang his classics like “Like Real People Do “ or “Take Me to Church.” the whole park screamed the lyrics to the fan-titled liberation-Hymne, and LGBTQ+ flags were held up high and proud! As a surprise song, he brought the beautiful Brittany Howard back to the stage and sang a cover of “Feeling Alright” by Joe Cocker - we loved it!

A fan favorite was his worldwide record number 1 single, “Too Sweet”, where the fans danced and sang as he walked into the crowd. As Encore, he played “Cherry Wine”, an emotional song about an abusive relationship - many people around me, including us,  had to battle their emotions.

For this song and “Unknown/Nth”, Hozier went to a small stage in the middle of the crowd, which brought a variety to the show and the opportunity for the fans to see the singer closeup.

His merch was the tour merch but had some things specially designed for this London concert. While we wandered around, we had the opportunity to talk to many fans and interviewed some for The Unseen. Be sure to keep your eyes open for it in the next few days!

All fans wore beautiful outfits, sometimes whimsical skirts or others had cool self-made shirts. The crowd seemed relaxed and giddy, which was probably due to the concert’s festival character. Some Fans even had Picknick blankets to enjoy the show on the side. The fanbase seemed relaxed and connected, which is a beautiful sight to see when you've seen different stories of cue wars for concerts before.

All in all, Hozier’s Finsbury Park Concert was a mixture of moments to sing loudly, dance (and sway), or cry to. His powerful voice brought out diverse emotions in one and just invited the fans to groove along. Especially little highlights like his Duett with Brittany Howard or little fan interactions made the Finsbury-Park Show a different experience from previous shows. Although, as a fan, it was a little sad to see that the show lost the intimacy of future smaller concerts, it still felt special in its own way. He made it so that the fans still didn’t feel overpowered by the over 50.000 people that were at the venue.

Generally, Hoziers does not stop with his new releases. After his album "Unreal Unearth" last year and the spring EP "Unheard", he just came out with his new EP, „Unreal Unearth: Unaired“, which includes three new songs: “Nobody’s Soldier”, which is a groovy song that will be kept in your mind.  As well as “That you are” with a great feature of singer Bedouine & “July”, which feels like a beautiful touch of a light summer.

The Unseen is sure Hozier will surely entice his fans with his new music at future concerts, as much as he did in Finsbury Park...