Hozier will perform to his largest ever crowd in Northern Ireland when he takes to the stage in just under two weeks time at Belsonic in Ormeau Park.
The County Wicklow native will perform at the festival on Thursday 27th June, after selling out his previous Belsonic gig in 2015. This will be his first show in Belfast since he sold out his intimate gig at the Ulster Hall back in December. His self-titled debut album ‘Hozier’ reached number one in the UK Album Charts upon its release in 2014 and went on a tour of the UK and US to celebrate its release. The leading single from that album ‘Take Me to Church’, was nominated for a Grammy Award, went multi-platinum in the UK, US and Canada and won Hozier the BBC Song of the Year in 2015.
He released his second studio album ‘Wasteland Baby!’ in March of this year and it landed at number one in the US Billboard 200. His worldwide tour to support the album began in spring of this year and takes him to Belsonic as part of the UK leg. He is one of the headliners for the Electric Picnic 2019, is scheduled to perform at the Glastonbury Festival and will also take to the stage during Lollapalooza 2019 in Chicago in August.
Hozier is well known for highlighting social issues in his songs. The video for ‘Take Me to Church’ features two men in a same-sex marriage and portrays the injustice and violence that the LGBT community is subject to. It was inspired by videos of violence used against gay men in Russia whilst the video for his single ‘Cherry Wine’ aims to raise awareness of domestic violence. The music video for ‘Nina Cried Power’ also features footage from Irish activists protesting and ‘Be’ alludes to the refugee crisis.
Support in Belfast is from American singer Maggie Rogers and fellow Irish musician David Keenan. Rogers rose to fame with ‘Alaska’ in 2016, a song she wrote in fifteen minutes for a masterclass with Pharrell Williams. A video of a visibly moved Williams listening to the song went viral resulting in millions of views as well as hundreds of thousands of plays online.Â
She had previously released two folk albums ‘The Echo’ and ‘Blood Ballet’ in 2012 and 2014 but her major label debut album ‘Heard it In a Past Life’ came out in January of this year and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. She has already appeared on well known US TV shows such as ‘Saturday Night Live’ as well as ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jimmy Kimmel.
David Keenan meanwhile went viral when a taxi driver filmed his performance in the cab in Dundalk over four years ago. He is accompanying Hozier throughout the European leg of his tour and the soul singer is set to release his debut album ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Bravery’ in August of this year.
Tickets for Hozier’s Belsonic show are still on sale from Ticketmaster for £30 plus booking fee.Â