Hozier’s joy as he performs ‘secret slot’ at Glastonbury

Hozier has described performing a secret set at Glastonbury as a “joy” as he rolled out hits from his back catalogue.

The Irish singer-songwriter announced on Friday morning he was the artist behind the mystery TBA slot billed from 7.30pm that evening on the Woodsies Stage, formerly named the John Peel Stage.

Supported by an orchestral band and back-up singers, he sang and played guitar in the circus-style tent to a crowd of adoring fans who sang along throughout.

Among his selection were tracks including To Be Alone, Someone New and Angel Of Small Death And The Codeine Scene.

During the set, he told the crowd: “I couldn’t tell you what a joy it is to be doing this little slot, this little secret slot, thank you so much for being here.

“Are you feeling good? You look good, you look well.”

The singer, whose real name is Andrew Hozier-Byrne, also performed new material including his recent release titled Francesca.

Elsewhere in the show, he told the crowd: “You still have a long evening ahead of you so it’s good to keep the pipes warmed up.

“So we’re going to go through a couple of exercises if you don’t mind?

“This is Glastonbury festival and I know you didn’t come here to half do it.”

As he was closing his set, he admitted he was “struggling to find the words” of what the moment meant to him.

He added: “It’s been a joy. I hope you have a beautiful weekend, thank you so much” before closing with his hit 2013 single Take Me To Church which was met with uproarious applause.

His performance was preceded by the Courteeners with rock band Warpaint billed to follow.

Just before Hozier’s set kicked off, the Foo Fighters stormed the Pyramid Stage in another surprise performance after originally being listed as The Churnups.

Rock duo Royal Blood will follow them on the main stage with Arctic Monkeys set to headline the festival on Friday.