Kevin Bronson on October 17th, 2014

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The first time we witnessed Andrew Hozier-Byrne was in a church – at SXSW, not long after his song “Take Me to the Church” went viral. On Thursday, returning to Los Angeles for the first time since selling out the Troubadour in May, the Irish singer-songwriter visited another house of worship, giving a concert in the 1,700-seat Cathedral Sanctuary at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Backed by a six-person band (including two background vocalists), Hozier proved both solemn and sexy with his soulful blues-folk, sharing stories about love and religion with the crowd one moment and thrilling them with an electric “It Will Come Back” the next. “Work Song” worked in its gospel-inspired glory; he took to the aisles to do a song without the benefit of amplification; and he duetted cellist Alana Henderson on “In a Week.” The crowd was … well, worshipful. There were “amens” during “Take Me to the Church,” even. And as one female fan said after he took off his jacket: “Maybe the shirt too?”

Photos by Kelly Rosales