Hozier brings intimate show to Birmingham's Symphony Hall - in pictures
Singer/songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, known professionally as Hozier, brought his headline tour to Birmingham's Symphony Hall last night.
The Irish musician was supported by Dundalk musician David Keenan.
Hozier first rose to prominence following the release of his globally successful, triple platinum single Take Me To Church, the video for which has been viewed over 250 million times on YouTube.
The track was nominated for Song Of The Year at the 2015 Grammy Awards, as well as at the Ivor Novello Awards, BBC Music Award and Billboard Music Awards, where Hozier also won Top Rock Artist.
Hozier’s total, global streams now stand at 4.5 billion, and he received a nomination for ‘Best International Male’ at the 2015 Brit Awards.
Wasteland, Baby! is the follow up to Hozier’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which has now amassed more than 2.1 billion streams on Spotify alone. The album has sold 850 thousand copies in the UK, going platinum in the process, while the record has sold 4.4 million copies worldwide.
Ahead of opening his UK tour with a sold-out show at the venue, Hozier joined local musician, James Attwood, for a look around the world-class venue’s foyer redevelopment.
The £13.2 million transformation will create a performance space for talented local artists to have even more opportunities to perform as part of a daily programme of free and affordable performances in the heart of Birmingham.
21-year-old guitarist James performs as part of the unsigned indie pop duo, Hunger Moon. Some of their first performances in bars across the city included four Hozier covers, including Someone New and Cherry Wine.
Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, James Attwood said: “I’ve been fortunate enough to experience all aspects of Town Hall Symphony Hall since being introduced into the organisation as part of their young people's music program in 2017.
“As part of Project Sound Lounge, I curated a line-up of exciting local music acts for a one-day music festival in Birmingham's iconic Town Hall.
"I was invited to return the following year to oversee the project, in the paid role of Project Fellow. The 2018 festival once again was a great success and saw us attract national touring acts to the Birmingham venue.
"This led me to another paid role within the organisation, this time redeveloping and launching the Project Sound Lounge programme as 360, aimed at young people like me, who want to be the next generation of musicians, artist managers, music programmers, event producers and music promoters – all in need of a platform and experience to get started in the industry. THSH has allowed me to do just this.”
