AUSTIN, Texas — As Central Texas enjoyed the idyllic weather on Sunday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL), Ireland-born Hozier was being blinded.
"Beautiful sun here. Smashing. Real front and center – it's a real conversation starter!" Hozier joked during his 6:15 p.m. Weekend 1 set. "Not like the one we have back home."
But neither Hozier nor his crowd let the setting sun get to them. In fact, at times, it felt a bit like a paid actor, allowing Hozier to seem more mysterious behind his sunglasses and setting at just the right time.
For their part, the crowd was electrified. They clapped along without being told and sang what seemed to be every word to every song, as far back as "Cherry Wine" and as recent as "Eat Your Young."
It wasn't hard to get swept up along with them.
PHOTOS: ACL 2023 - Weekend 1
Hozier was a commanding presence, standing 6 foot, 6 inches, with long hair, a broad grin and a strong voice, strumming one beautiful guitar after another. His band felt close-knit and were mesmerizing in their own right, complete with not one but two keyboardists and a cello player. And the songs swung back and forth from dark and moody, boarding on gospel, to bright and lovely.
But despite all that bravado, when the crowd sang his songs back to him, you still got the sense that Hozier feels like a lad who can't believe his luck, doing his best to please.
That was perhaps the most obvious after the final song. Hozier had made his way closer to the fans during the finale performance of "Take Me To Church," and a person in the crowd had handed him a Pride flag. Instead of just leaving with it once the set was over, Hozier mimed to the fan, "Do you want this back?" before vowing to return it to them somehow.
If you missed Hozier during Weekend 1, he'll be playing again at the American Express stage Sunday, Oct. 15, at 6:15 p.m.
For all of KVUE's ACL coverage, visit KVUE.com/ACL.