You know Hozier. I know Hozier. If you don’t know Hozier– not sure where you’ve been in the last decade, since he’s become one of the most celebrated musicians not just in his home of Ireland but globally.

He’ll be playing 3Arena for the next few nights, the tail end of an extensive worldwide tour. His face– er, teeth, a la his newest album cover– have been plastered on buses and any available wall space around Dublin for the past six months, advertising these 3Arena shows despite them selling out almost immediately back in July.

Unsurprisingly, the venue is buzzing with excitement, queues packed with Dubliners coming out to see the Bray native’s triumphant return home.

And triumphant it was: from the moment he emerged onstage to the last note rang out, our man was glowing, beaming out at a packed crowd of friends and family. “You don’t know how good it feels to be back,” he shared, to massive whoops and applause. “It’s a joy to be in Dublin, it’s a joy to be playing home shows.”

Hozier at 3Arena. Tuesday 19th of December 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

He begins the show with the opener of his latest album Unreal Unearth, the tender ‘De Selby (Part One)’. One of the biggest talking points about the new record was this track and his use of the Irish language, his first time singing in it on a released song.

It’s uniquely moving, Hozier singing in Irish to an Irish crowd. Not only is the song a gorgeous opener that makes good use of the language, but it’s young people connecting to the language en masse. People around me sang along to each word, a chorus of passionate voices that genuinely made me emotional.

He then transitioned smoothly into 'De Selby (Part Two)', a more traditional single from the record that featured visuals from the Domhnall Gleeson-starring music video behind him and the band. At this point, it’s starting to hit that that’s actually Hozier up there, all 1.98m of him and that he’s really as talented as he comes across on his records.

His band is incredibly talented: you can both hear it and feel it in the enthusiasm in which the songs are delivered. The eight musicians give the songs a richness that elevates the music, each person given ample room and billing on the stage that if the singer was anybody else, they’d overshadow them.

But of course, Hozier’s voice is the main star, almost unbelievable in its richness. He soars through a library of incredible songs, reaching impossibly high and low notes with apparent ease, sounding exactly like he does in the studio versions. At risk of sounding like a broken record, it would be a disservice not to give him props that the quality of his voice is so intact even at the end of such a long tour.

Hozier at 3Arena. Tuesday 19th of December 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

He blasts through the next few songs, the setlist a pretty even mix of each of his three albums. He plays crowd favourite ‘Francesca’ to massive cheers, along with the sensual ‘Dinner & Diatribes’.

The band then leaves the stage briefly as he’s handed an acoustic guitar– the audience knows what time it is. “This song was recorded in an abandoned hotel in Greystones,” he introduces the song, “and somehow it’s stuck around.”

He launches into ‘Cherry Wine’, and it’s an absolute highlight of the entire show. It’s magical, just him and a guitar singing about a volatile relationship as the entire 3Arena dutifully holds up their phone torches and sings along to every word.

“The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine/Open hand or closed fist would be fine/The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.”

He continues with a few slower songs: ‘To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)’ (as Hozier describes it, an Irish word for “something that has been made cold by water”), followed by the timeless ‘Like Real People Do’.

He coyly acknowledges the dip in energy at this point and introduces the next song as one that will lighten the mood. “This next one is about the image of an animal who has been hit by a car.” Well, maybe not.

As he nears the end of the main set, he gives the band room to spread its wings. ‘Would That I’ features Abigail of opener The Last Dinner Party, a band Hozier won’t stop singing the praises of. Their opening set was impressive, indulgent and energizing, but it was their headliner Workmans’ gig later on in the night that was truly defining: see our live review of that gig here.

The Last Dinner Party supporting Hozier at 3Arena. Tuesday 19th of December 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

The last song before the encore was, of course, ‘Take Me To Church’. Having gathered an unbelievable 2 billion streams on Spotify, ‘Church’ is one of the most defining songs of the entire 2010s: and hearing it live only elevated its emotional impact. The crowd held up pride flags and trans flags as Hozier sang about the church and its confines: it felt like a moment in history, in fact, hearing the song only a day after Pope Francis gave his approval for priests to bless same-sex couples.

“Take me to church/I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies/I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife/Offer me that deathless death/Good God, let me give you my life.”

It’s unspeakably powerful.

He quickly comes back out for the encore, but he has something to say as he introduces the next song, ‘Nina Cries Power’.

“I had the pleasure of recording this song with the legendary Mavis Staples a few years ago,” he begins, before describing how when she was young she and her family would perform before Martin Luther King would speak. He then likened the American Civil Rights movement to other movements that were inspired by it– including, of course, a movement in Northern Ireland.

His voice has more than just physical power, and he knows it. Without missing a beat, he called for a ceasefire in Gaza, continuing a trend that he’s been spreading from concert to concert around Europe these past few weeks. “I’m proud to be from Ireland,” he said over the supportive cheering, “where people show such compassion.”

Hozier at 3Arena. Tuesday 19th of December 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

He finally brings the house down with his final song ‘Work Song’, introducing each member of the band by name and hometown (the drummer and guitarist, both from Ireland, got some extra loud cheers).

He then started thanking each member of his tour by name, from the tour manager to the lighting guy to the guitar techs, even naming the carpenters (charmingly, named Michael and Michael). He’s like the anti-diva, so humble that he dedicates at least ten minutes just to those helping him put on the show.

It was a disappointment when he left the stage, if only because I could have listened to him sing for another two hours– I could have listened to him sing the phone book. But of course, the show ended, and he got to celebrate with his friends and family (he thanked his mom at one point, who was up in the balcony seats) after a long, fruitful, successful tour.

Hozier has been around a while now, but if this concert was any indication, he’s only getting better and better with time.