YouTube sensation Hozier displays promise at the Troc

It's heartening in this era of fluffy YouTube videos that an artist of weight can gain success through that medium. But YouTube is where we first heard of Andrew Hozier-Byrne, the Irish folk-gospel singer who performs as simply Hozier and who posted a stark video for his "Take Me to Church" - dedicated to Russia's beleaguered LGBT community facing rampant homophobia. The song became a viral sensation by dealing with religion and humanity with a sound track of holy-rolling, smoldering sensuality.

When Hozier appeared on good old-fashioned TV (The Late Show With David Letterman, Saturday Night Live), he wowed with his slowly surging, emotional baritone and the intimate chorale feel of his hit song. That wow factor has carried on to his first real U.S. tour on the heels of a recently released eponymous album.

He sold out the Trocadero on Saturday even though his new fan base has heard little more than a few songs (A March gig at the Electric Factory is also sold out). It's not difficult to see, and hear, why.

At the Troc, the gangly Hozier and his mostly female band came across like a chamber blues ensemble, each woman providing background vocals, sounding like a choir of angels behind the brooding singer/guitarist.

There was a smoky elasticity and conflicted purity during the slow, steel guitar-stroked "Like Real People Do," and the stripped-down "It Will Come Back" that recalled Van Morrison, another Irishman who mixes folk, soul, and lyrics rife with references to Catholic guilt and death. But even that comparison seemed weak when Hozier voiced the righteousness of "Take Me to Church" with a soaring vocal that turned the onetime burlesque hall into a cathedral.

Some crunchy rockers were so-so, several songs ran longer than they should have, and occasionally Hozier's lyrics were plain awkward. Still, the quietly gruff, mid-tempo blues of "Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene" and its more soulful counterpart "Jackie and Wilson" were fascinating as they veered from the slowly grooving folk-R&B of their warmly recorded counterparts into something dirtier. As a work in progress, Hozier was as promising as it gets.