It's been four years since Hozier last toured the UK and as the clock struck 9.13pm it seemed that eager fans who had packed out Newcastle's City Hall couldn't wait one more minute for the star to appear on stage.
The city's iconic music venue was the perfect setting for the Irish musician who kicked off his July 3 show with a performance of his new EP 'Eat Your Young,' which had the crowd captivated from the first note.
Many will know Hozier as the artist who broke into the music scene a decade ago with his track 'Take Me to Church' and fans lucky enough to secure tickets to his 'Unreal Earth' tour were certainly there to worship.
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And if they couldn't love him any more, Hozier gave the Geordie crowd yet another reason - telling them four songs into his set; "You know I'm from a tiny village in Ireland called Newcastle as well? Ireland has three or four tiny little Newcastles.
"But there's only one Newcastle! It's nice to feel at home."
Huge cheers greeted this remark, with the audience repeatedly screaming "We love you!" in between songs.
With the highly-anticipated 'Unreal Earth' album yet to be released until later this summer, Hozier gave the crowd a taste of what to expect when he performed four songs, including 'Francesca' to a rapturous reception.
While you could clearly see how much he enjoyed playing the new material, Hozier was all too aware that fans were craving old favorites and generously performed nine songs from his first self-titled album and three songs from his second album, 'Wasteland Baby!'
A standout performance from the night, was Hozier's solo acoustic rendition of Cherry Wine, where he called on the crowd to help "little old me" after his band disappeared backstage. And they certainly did, with Hozier even responding, "You sound great. Of course, you sound great. This is Newcastle!"
But while the crowd was there to see Hozier perform, he wasn't the only star of the night.
Dubbed "outrageously talented" by Hozier himself, supporting artist Victoria Canal had the audience mesmerised with her stunning vocals before he even set foot on stage.
If you've not heard of her already, then the 24-year-old singer-songwriter is definitely one to watch and already has an Ivor Novello Rising Star award to her name.
Her performance of 'Shape' drew huge cheers from the crowd as she explained it was about body dysmorphia but said she is proud of her identity as a queer, disabled woman.
Hozier repeatedly thanked Canal for her performance telling the crowd, "It's such a joy to have her." And he spoke similarly of his band members.
In fact, he used an extended version of 'Someone New' to give each member of his band - made up of members from Kerry in Ireland all the way to Nashville in the US - their moment in the spotlight as the show built up to the finale.
Those who wanted to hear 'Take Me To Church' may have had to wait, but they were certainly not disappointed. In what was one of the stand-out moments of the show, Hozier turned the mic towards the audience and let them take over for a few seconds.
And Canal returned on stage for a brilliant encore of 'Like Real People Do' after Geordies stomped their feet calling for 'one more song.' Hozier then closed his storming set with 'Work Song' and the Irishman was left blown away by deafening reception as he walked off as he repeatedly patted his heart and put his hands together in thanks.
