The Hotelier and Foxing’s co-headlining show at the Bottleneck was all about the former

In the middle of The Hotelier’s hour-long set celebrating the 10-year anniversary of sophomore record Home, Like NoPlace is There, vocalist Christian Holden read a sign that was held up by an attendee directly in the middle of the crowd. It said “Your music saved my life”.

Holden took polite aim at the note, with some reconstruction.

“I’m happy to have inspired you to not die,” he says. “Music is just music. It didn’t save your life, you made that decision for yourself.”

The ladmark emo revival/pop-punk quartet sped their way through penultimate Home track “Discomfort Revisited” before Holden ‘revisited’ his previous comment.

The Hotelier. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

“I retract what I just said,” says Holden. “Music is not just music. Everyone in this room loves music, it’s something that we can all share.”

It was a moment coming after 13 straight emotional roller-coasters that contributed to the all-out, overwhelming “Dendron,” ending their night with the words “just tell me again that it’s all in my head”.

It was also a moment where the sold-out crowd in attendance could witness that the man behind one of the most poetic musical constructions of the last 10 years does not have all the answers. His rambles between songs usually ended with “…anyway, thanks for coming out.” We are all more like our heroes than we know.

The Hotelier. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

It’s hard to not be subjective when discussing Home, Like NoPlace is There. All we Hotelier fans have our own story behind the record, our own personal triumphs, our own personal lows. Your story is your story. Empathy is a powerful thing.

I lost a close friend back in high school, my brother lost one this year. We both lived through our grandparents passing within a year of each other. So it was only right that we experienced this set together. And I know we weren’t the only ones in the crowd with that story. Relationships come and go, even when we don’t want them to, it’s a part of life. Holden knows that just as much as anybody.

The air was constantly taken out of the building throughout the set, with the intelligent audience knowing each and every word, whether it was the scream of “I just slept for years on end, fuck!” during “An Introduction to the Album” or the melody of “I called in sick to your funeral” on “Your Deep Rest”. Overcoming the choir in front of him was Holden’s pitch-perfect vocal duties. 10 years later and this sounded exactly like the album I’ve been listening to.

Foxing. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

Playing a co-headlining tour with fellow emo comrades Foxing, they were the opening act Sunday night, coming on at 8:45 p.m., with Foxing following at around 10:05. After scooching my way out of the conglomerate close to the stage to see the hordes from the hour prior all gone, it was clear that this was The Hotelier’s show and tour, because this album reaches everyone, from everywhere, that frequents the genre.

Yes, Foxing is still relevant (making three studio records post-Albatross (the record they celebrated Sunday evening) vs. Hotelier’s one), while The Hotelier hasn’t toured in five years, but I think these reasons actually created an inverse result in ticket numbers. The rarity of the occasion spoke to everybody. And everybody that knows the album well couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Foxing. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge

After finishing Albatross, Foxing played three cuts from 2018’s Nearer My God (including the zany “Lich Prince”), along with one from Draw Down the Moon. Vocalist Conor Murphy had time for his sensationally combative humor following “Quietus”.

“Please cheer if you haven’t listened to another record by us other than Albatross,” he says, which resulted in a few participants. “Alright, get him the fuck out.”

“Nearer My God”, the group’s opus, ended the night, where we called it quits at around 11:10 with the chance of a possible encore left in question.

Therapeutic is too easy of a word to describe the experience of sharing the night with someone that understands why you were there, why you appreciate these sorts of things. It’s another thing to talk about those things and why you do love the record. I’m very grateful I’m able to do both.

Trauma deserves a safe place for healing, Holden found it with his music. Everyone at The Bottleneck on Sunday night found it from the show. My brother and I certainly found it from a future memory.

The Hotelier setlist

Goodness, Pt. 1

Piano Player

Vacancy

Weathered

Goodness, Pt. 2

Home, Like NoPlace is There

An Introduction to the Album

The Scope of All of This Rebuilding

In Framing

Your Deep Rest

Among the Wildflowers

Life in Drag

Housebroken

Discomfort Revisited

Dendron

Foxing setlist

The Albatross

Bloodhound

Inuit

The Medic

Pent Up in a Blind

Rory

Bit by a Dead Bee, Pt. I

Bit by a Dead Bee, Pt. II

Den Mother

Calm Before

Quietus

Grand Paradise

Draw Down the Moon

Lich Prince

Nearer My God

(encore . . . possibly??)