Hozier, Michael McDonald and More Help Us Groove on Saturday night at CityFolk

Before we get too deep into this review, I have a personal bias I feel might be worth admitting. I’ve been eager to see Hozier perform live for a number of years and personally believe that his debut album was one of the best mainstream commercial releases of the last five years.

Suffice to say, my excitement was at a level of paramount magnitude by 9:15pm.

You see, the CityFolk Festival is unlike many other festivals. The audience is mellow and sometimes even somber. We often sit cross-legged on the lawn of beautiful Lansdowne Park (TD Place) and flow with the grooves of an atmosphere often times more relaxed then its brother Ottawa Bluesfest. And no doubt, mellow grooves and bluesy vibes by noteable baritone singers and mysterious storytellers was absolutely the theme of the evening, and the lineup did not disappoint.

From the legendary Michael McDonald pounding out a whole slew of recognized favourites (including no shortage if Doobie Brothers classics and a monumental version Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?!”), to earlier acts such as Lindi Ortega, Barney Bentall and Skydiggers leaving everybody clamoring for more as they set their respective stages ablaze with passionate exchanges of story and song. The Saturday lineup gave everybody in attendance something to look forward to.

However, no matter how talented and impressive each act was to their target demographic, few performers seen to own the stage with as much honesty and humility as Hozier. Thanking the capacity audience in Ottawa’s downtown for making him feel welcome on the first date of his fall tour, for a few moments we all forget about the heat that had been picking at us and stealing our breath all afternoon.

There is something haunting and otherworldly about Hozier as an artist. His band can perform a lot of rough, basic blues with foot-pounding bass drum beats, while his impressive vocal stylings can sometimes become buried in the thematic virtues of the grooves. Nonetheless, when he bursts into moments of melodic exploration, there is a volcanic eruption of emotional renaissance that I feel very few can duplicate.

Culminating his powerful set fittingly with a devastating, and still brilliantly uplifting version of the “Work Song,” he and his band left all of us inspired and satisfied that once again CityFolk gave us our monies’ worth.

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