The Coca-Cola Roxy

I’ve been a fan of Hozier since a few months before the release of his debut album in 2014. He’s easily one of my five favorite artists and I’ve long been eagerly awaiting a southern tour so that I could catch him live. He’s been a sort of white whale for me as a concert-goer in that I’ve always actively looked to see him and the logistics just never worked out. Towards the end of last year, however, he announced a forthcoming new album and a slew of new tour dates to go along with it. I was thrilled to see that he was making stops in both Nashville and Atlanta. The Nashville show was set for the Ryman Auditorium, which return readers will know is perhaps my favorite music venue in the country. However, that show was scheduled for Sunday night, which is more difficult for both the fiancée and I as the drive home would have us getting in late and we’d both have to work the next day. Luckily, the Atlanta gig was scheduled for the night before – a Saturday is the perfect day for us to hit out-of-town shows. I bought tickets without a second thought.

It was my first time to visit the Coca-Cola Roxy Theater. The venue opened a little under two years ago in The Battery, a mixed-use development adjacent to new Braves ballpark Suntrust Park in Cobb County, just a bit outside of the city. The venue is mostly general admission floor, with a ring of limited theater-style balcony seating. I chose the floor, as the tickets were cheaper and I liked the idea of potentially being able to get as close to the stage as we could get. We’d intended to get to the Roxy around an hour or so before the doors opened in hopes of being far enough ahead in the line to get one of those sweet spots up close. We hit some traffic on the way in, however, and were running a bit late so instead we opted to just grab a bite to eat at one of the restaurants in the development and come back after the doors opened. As it turns out, getting there that early probably wouldn’t have done much good as the line was already crawling several blocks. I’d wager a guess that the people in front were dedicated enough to have gotten there far earlier than I’d have ever cared to, to be honest.

I was very impressed by The Battery on the whole, and it made for a nice surrounding for the venue. It’s far enough outside of the city that the traffic wasn’t near as bad as it could have been, and parking was easy and plentiful. The restaurants peppered through the area all looked pretty good and everything had a nice vibe. Other than the ballpark itself, the Roxy is definitely the focal point of it all. We stopped in Goldberg’s deli for a quick bite, and though we weren’t there for a game and the season hasn’t even quite started being that close to a ballpark compelled me to order a hot dog and a beer. We eventually made our way into the venue and gained our bearings. Everything had that new, state-of-the-art feel to it, with nice mood lighting emitting from a set of elegant chandeliers. The floor was filled about a third of the way, so we joined the crowd and figured our spot wasn’t half bad. After about 30 minutes, Jade Bird was ready to take the stage.

Still can’t believe I’m engaged to this total dime.

Until it was announced that she’d be opening on this tour, I was unfamiliar with Jade Bird. After getting my tickets, I went to check her out on Spotify and was immediately blown away. In the time since, I’ve become quite the fan of her work and have her debut album on pre-order. Jade Bird is a 21-year up-and-comer hailing from England, and it’s a little hard to put her in a box. Her 2017 EP, Something American, is very much the work of a folksy singer-songwriter and brings to mind shades of Brandi Carlile and Joni Mitchell. Meanwhile, her newer work (leading up to next month’s self-titled debut album) has taken on a nice edge, adding in a backing band and cranking up the guitar amps. This new sound has brought out a huskiness in her voice more along the lines of Janis Joplin or Stevie Nicks. It’s an impressive start for so young an artist and I’m officially on board to take the ride and see where her career goes from here. All this to say, I was far more excited to see Jade Bird than I’ve ever been for an opening band.

Bird took the stage alone with her acoustic guitar, leading me to believe we might get more of the singer-songwriter acoustic sound from her early work. The truth is it landed somewhere in the middle – she played all new songs which packed their powerful vocal punch, but with subdued instrumentation lending hints of that early work. It showed off a flexibility to her talent that she didn’t seem to feel confined to either sound and that both sides of her music came off as completely natural. Most in the crowd seemed unfamiliar with her, which is to be expected with an opening band – especially one from the UK who hasn’t released an album yet. Had I not checked her out in advance I’d have gone in blind as well. She led off with “Uh Huh,” which is my personal favorite. It’s a song that really shows her dynamite-laden voice, and once she let loose the chorus I could see a lot of folks in the crowd start to take notice. I think that even if I hadn’t already gotten aboard the Jade Bird train, she would have won me over from the first song, leading me to believe plenty of new fans were created last night.

You really need to check out Jade Bird. This is what it would sound like if your favorite coffee shop songwriter swallowed an amplifier and some nitroglycerin.

I’m going to take a break right here in the middle to dwell on the negative, so that I neither start nor end you with a bad impression of what was overall a great evening. Ready? Here it is: if you’re short and you’re there for the full concert experience, venues like this aren’t for you. I’ve been to a show at a very similar venue, having seen The Head and the Heart at Birmingham’s Iron City a few years back, and I had the same problem then. With a flat floor as opposed to the traditional tiered seating of a theater, coliseum, or arena, us wee folk are at a severe disadvantage as we are stuck behind rows of taller people. I understand that this is only an issue for a subset of the crowd – if you’re 6 feet or over you may not even think about it – but at 5’5” in a good pair of shoes, it was a definite detractor for me. The twin problem to this is personal space. Without rows of seats to define some semblance of personal bubbles, the crowd is left to their own devices as they jockey for closer and closer positions with a good line of sight.

Both of these issues reared their heads as Jade Bird’s set unfolded and people filed in and filled ranks. Samantha and I were both fighting to catch glimpses here and there as heads in front of us occasionally bent down to adjust a sock or scratch an itch. As we both tried to see through what gaps we could, couples around us squeezed in on all sides. At one point the couple behind me squeezed in front of me and cut Samantha and I off from each other. As I tried to get back up to her, nobody around us would give. I had to practically force bodies out of my way just to get between them and get back to her, and even then they remained pressed against me on every side. I have pretty high levels of social anxiety, and none of that is my bag. As soon as Bird’s set ended, I set off for the bathroom with the ulterior motive of trying to find a more relaxed spot. My theory was that if we went towards the back where people were more spread out, it would actually be easier to see, as not standing ass-to-crotch and shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbors would create bigger gaps between heads.

The man himself, from our spot at the back.

I could see that my theory was correct and once more fought through the crowd to retrieve Sam and tell her my plan. We retreated to the back and were able to see much better. We both figured that even if the line of sight collapsed and we still couldn’t see, at least we could now breathe and have personal space in which to stand. After settling in to our new spot, we went to grab a drink from the bar. As a side point, this type of venue always feels more like a bar than a theater, and I think that has at least somewhat of an influence on the crowd. Especially with popular mainstream acts like Hozier, you’ve got plenty of people who aren’t necessarily there for the performance alone but treat it more like a night at the bar with their friends. This vibe somewhat amplifies the previous problems in my opinion. I realize that I sound like a grumpy old man, but I want to clarify that none of these factors ruined the experience for me. None of these are necessarily problems with the venue either, just a difference in experience as opposed to other types of venues. It’s the kind of a vibe that plenty of people prefer and take no issue with. Personally, it’s just not my ideal venue. I also admit that I would have been much more content in the theater seating of the upper level and chose not to buy those tickets, so the onus is on me.

Not from Atlanta, but “Would That I” from 2 weeks earlier in Baltimore. From Steve Easton on YouTube.

Now back to the good. We will resume at the bar, where we’ve just gotten our drinks: a Diet Coke for me since I’d already had a beer at dinner and had to drive back to the Airbnb after the show and for Sam, a Take Me to Church (a Tequila Sunrise rebranded to suit the evening). As I cashed out, the lights went down and we hustled back to our comfortable new spots in the back. Finally, it was time for the main event. As the crowd began to roar and the drum began to kick, out walked the towering presence of the man himself – Hozier had taken the stage. The humble forest creature ran a hand through his curly locks, picked up his guitar and began to launch into the opening licks of “Would That I” as the stage lighting roared to life. That song (a personal favorite from his new album) has a massive energy to the chorus and was a great way to kick off the show.

“To Be Alone” from Atlanta, with the gas can guitar. From Inglorious Dub on YouTube.

He followed up “Would That I” with another footstomping romp in “Dinner and Diatribes.” From there the energy never quite went back down. Hozier has a great stage presence, and when coupled with his massive vocals and fiery guitar playing, the crowd remained vibrantly engaged. He played a great mix of songs from both of his albums, 7 from his self-titled debut and 10 from the new album, Wasteland, Baby! He also brought out “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)” which is not on either album but appeared on September’s Nina Cried Power EP. From the first album, “Jackie and Wilson” was an obvious crowd favorite, and “To Be Alone” and “From Eden” got great reactions as well. For the former, he whipped out a sweet-ass gas can guitar. “Someone New” was interesting as he slowed it down and made it a sort of bluesy crawl that I thought was better than the recorded version. The only omissions from the new album were “Sing (To Noise Making),” “As It Was,” “Be,” and “Sunlight.” “Nina Cried Power” was early in the set and well received, while “Shrike” got a huge reaction towards the middle. Before the closer, he played “Almost (Sweet Music)” and “Movement” back to back, which was a great way to gear up for the grand finale. He closed out the set with “Take Me to Church” (obviously), which of course went thermonuclear, before coming back for the encore.

Close-up of the gas can guitar from @hozier on Instagram.

When he first returned to the stage for the encore he did so alone, the stage lit all in red with a gloomy spotlight on center stage. The first quiet notes of “Cherry Wine” rang out to silence the uproarious crowd. After that, he welcomed the band back to the stage and introduced them one by one. He also went on to thank the sound and lighting crews, guitar techs, roadies, and every single person involved in the production by name. Some may have found that tedious, but I thought it was an extremely classy move. Those crews work very hard to make an event special for the crowd and almost never get recognized for it. Hozier has always struck me as a genuinely kind and caring person, and this furthered that image. The thank-you’s all concluded, he and the band launched into “Work Song” to finish the night. When it was over, he gathered the band in a line for a theatric bow together, which I thought to be another classy move.

“Almost (Sweet Music” from our Atlanta show, from liaclayton on YouTube.

It was everything I’d hoped it would be. There were only one or two songs I wished he’d played, but I understood that they weren’t huge crowd pleasers and by no means expected them. He’d carried himself well and put on a great show. I was impressed with his band as well, as they all seemed to be multi-talented. They would periodically rotate through different instruments – the bass and synth player would swap for a while, then one of them would break off to play the violin for a song or two while the other picked up a flugelhorn. I’m kidding about the flugelhorn, but I would have believed it had it happened. The drummer had a great ferocity and energy, and the backup singers lent perfect harmonies to every song. On both records, Hozier spends almost every song backed by a full choir. I was interested to see if he could achieve the same effect with just two backup singers. What I’d failed to take into account was that the whole band could sing as well, so instead of two it was usually five or six voices backing him up. The ‘religious experience’ effect was absolutely still there.

From @hozier on Instagram

After the show, we went out to the merch area. Jade Bird had mentioned at the end of her set that she’d be at her merch table giving out free hugs, so I wanted to go meet her. We waited in a short line to get to her table, where she was hanging out and graciously talking to fans while signing merch and taking pictures. She was very genuine and friendly and took time to chat with everyone and ask their names. I grabbed a copy of her Something American EP on vinyl and asked her to sign it. She signed it with my name and chatted with me for a few seconds before taking a photo with me and Sam. I really was struck by her genuine presence and generosity to take that time with fans, and I’ll definitely be ready to whip that picture out when her career blows up. We slowly but surely made our way out of the venue and wandered back out into the battery to grab some gelato before heading home. It was a great night at the Roxy, thanks to Hozier and Jade Bird for putting on a hell of a show. I can’t wait to see both of them again.

Fanboying so hard!