By Riley Moore
Recounts of pop’s prince return to the stage for the first time in years
Harry Styles is arguably the only true male pop star out there today. With audiences collapsing at the sound of his voice, fan girls buying concert tickets like madmen, and pop music that makes people feel good – it’s no surprise he’s the current prince of pop.
He got his big break from music all the way back in 2016 on X-Factor and became a part of the world-famous boy band, One Direction. His band was much like any other boy band, a worldwide phenomenon for fan girls. Only lasting five years before their “hiatus,” the five boys put out five albums and did five world tours, pushing the limits of their abilities and pushing fan girl culture into another dimension. When the band went on hiatus in 2015, they effectively disbanded, with all members going on to release solo projects and further develop their fanbases.
Of the five members, Harry Styles has gone on to be the most commercially successful, with chart-topping hits like “Watermelon Sugar” and “As It Was” and an extremely successful two-year world tour. Following his global domination with his albums and tour, he took a long break. Completely disappeared from the spotlight, leaving devoted fans distraught and leaving the pop world a little duller. During this time, he took about three years away to recharge himself and find the music he wanted to make. Needless to say, his fans were missing his presence and his musical style.
Just when pop culture needed back its prince of pop, Harry Styles announced his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. released March 6th. Along with the album, Styles announced a One Night Only concert for the day of the launch, where he would play the album for fans in his hometown of Manchester. Receiving tickets for this concert was much different than anything I’d ever experienced. Due to the extremely high demand for Harry Styles, his tour dates sold out like crazy, with prices being sky-high. With this show, I think his team wanted to do a different approach, so people were only able to receive tickets via raffle. Fans could answer one question only: whether they wanted to be seated or standing, and then put in their bank card information to get two tickets at 20 pounds each. If they happened to be chosen, they would receive an email with their ticket confirmation and soon be heading to the ONO (One Night Only) show.
My mom, quite literally the luckiest person I know, got chosen! Soon we’d be heading to Manchester for this concert! A lot of people call us crazy for that, but it’s just something that my mom and I do. Concerts have always been a connection point for us, and because it’s just us two, we’ve always been able to make them a fun time. As I’ve gotten older and moved abroad, our range of concerts has just expanded. Call us crazy, but it’s a good way to see a new city and plan it around something fun. Her coming from the United States, she had more of a travel to Manchester, but we finally met up on March 5th. Excited to hear Style’s new album and see him on a stage for the first time in three years!
The Concert
My mom and I got to the Co-op Live Arena at 6:20 pm for a 7 pm doors opening, and the line was already wrapped around the building. I wasn’t too shocked because I knew it was going to be crazy busy, but it just continued to evolve into madness. My mom and I were probably about 40 people away from where the line formed with actual barricades, and from the time we got in line, the line continued to spread all the way down. Wrapping itself around the parking lot and gardens, and people wrapping themselves around each other. I think there definitely could have been better planning here. I mean, they knew exactly how many tickets were sold, so the lack of queue planning felt odd. Ultimately, I was grateful for our position because we lucked out in getting in line just before it devolved. From where we were standing, we could see the doors open and security start moving at 7 pm, but our place in line didn’t start moving until 7:15 pm. Once we got through security, the staff scanned our tickets, and then we went to the next set of people.
Styles had made a deal with Netflix, so this ONO would be recorded and put onto the streaming platform as a way to memorialize this night. Netflix wanted the wow factor, so fans had to place their phones into plastic baggies that made it impossible to record on the camera. Because fans had their cameras taken away, Styles’ team offered each pair of tickets one disposable camera so fans could capture memories of the night. For the first time, I’d get to experience what a concert was like before cellphones were a thing – and I seriously loved it. Without the worry of trying to get the perfect picture or video of your favorite song, I could just live in the moment and fully experience the music in the way it was intended.
Harry Styles came on stage around 9 pm, and the arena absolutely erupted. He walked through crowds of fans, as I tried to look at the big screens to see him. He took his steps up on stage, and if I thought the screams were loud before, now they were amplified tenfold. The tension in the room was palpable; everyone was so excited to be a part of this monumental moment.
On stage, he wore wide-legged, banana-yellow pants and a royal blue jumper on top. Underneath the jumper, he had on a black buttoned-up shirt with white flowers printed randomly, and a big pink tie. Seemingly a wacky outfit, but Styles pulls it off- as he does with everything.
Without speaking a word into the microphone, he begins crafting a beat on what seems to be a small DJ stand. He plays around with different notes, tones, and sounds for a few minutes before finally settling on the correct one. He begins tapping out the beat to “Aperture”- the first track of his album and the only single released before the album drop. The lights begin to flicker along to the beat of the song, creating a sonic world for the audience to fully be a part of. The rest of his band has now joined in to add musical texture to the beat. Once they all find the groove of the song, Styles approaches the mic to sing the first verse.
As he takes his steps into the spotlight, the crowd erupts into screams once again. We can’t contain the energy. We’re all about to hear Harry Styles sing live for the first time in years. From where I am in the crowd, his back is more to me, but I can see him take a deep breath and grab onto the microphone.
His voice begins to sing “Take no prisoners for me, I’m told you’re elevating. Drinks go straight to my knees, I’m sold, I’m going on clean.” My entire body is covered in goosebumps as he goes into the next verse. He goes into the next part of the verse, and when he gets to the line “it’s complicated,” there’s a part in the song where his voice alters to exaggerate the “ed” part for a few beats. The crowd took it upon themselves to do that part of the song, and we all screamed out “aye, aye, aye, aye, aye” to the beat of the song. Seriously, it was one of the coolest parts of a live crowd I’ve ever been a part of. Without even taking a beat or planning it, we completed a part of the song that wasn’t necessarily able to be translated live – and as the crowd, we made that happen. There’s another part in the second verse where he does the same thing with the word “cadence,” and as the crowd, we did it again. Immediately, the crowd felt connected to each other and to Harry.
As the first song finishes, Styles steps away from the microphone to take a 30-second breather. He takes a few large sips of water and a few deep breaths before the beat of the next song kicks on. “American Girls”, a song mainly driven by the kick-drum beat, allows Styles an opportunity to dance to the song’s intro before stepping up to the mic.
Going into the concert, this track was probably my favorite of the album, so it makes sense it’s one of my favorites of the night. This track is a bit livelier, with more flowing melodies, and that definitely translated well into the live version. This might have been a favorite of everyone, because this is one of the songs I remember everyone really dancing to. People screamed the lyrics, raised their hands to the lyrics, and dropped them to the beat. We all jumped up and down until we could no longer.
After song two wraps up, Styles finally takes a few minutes to address the crowd. He thanks us all for being here tonight and extends his thankfulness to the fans who waited and stuck around while he disappeared from the spotlight. He tells us that he needed a break in order to find out who he was now as a 30-year-old performer, and he felt it necessary to find the music he wanted to make. As he continues to speak, I can feel the gratitude oozing out of him as he thanks the crowd one last time and encourages us to dance our hearts away!
Sad as I am to say it, a lot of the songs from there blended, but I still remember distinct moments from each track. “Ready, Steady, Go” was an extremely lively song, with Styles running around basically doing laps on stage while still effortlessly singing along. In this song, there is a different microphone (almost like autotune on his voice) on the chorus, and in the live version, Styles brought a sort of radio mic on stage to sing that bit. It was a cool thing to experience, and on the Netflix special, they captured that moment very well.
Similarly, “Are You Listening Yet?” had Styles running around like a madman while pointing the microphone to the crowd when we would all scream the question “are you listening yet?” over and over.
The first slower, more melancholic song on the album is “Taste Back,” which gave Styles and the crowd a chance to simmer down while still enjoying the music. Towards the end of this song, in the bridge, Styles begs the question “Did you” repeatedly, and hearing this bit live is where I got the full experience of the drums bringing the beat back in, the synths livening the tune, and the backing vocals take this song to the next level. Finally, the music comes together in a serendipitous symphony, and Styles belts out the last chorus. Truly a wonderful experience that elevated the song to new heights.
The next song, “The Waiting Game”, I quite literally do not remember at all…oops. Funny enough, when Harry talked to the crowd before this song he thanked us for spreading joy with him, saying “You’re the greatest group of people I’ve ever met in my life,” then announcing the next song played would be “Season 2 Weight Loss” for a moment then actually remembering the next song should actually be “The Waiting Game.” So maybe even Harry felt the song was a little forgettable…overall I think the song felt a little bland, and the live experience didn’t really heighten it for me.
However, the song after that - “Season 2 Weight Loss” was an undoubtedly beautiful experience. Styles brought out a choir on stage, as this song relies heavily on backing vocals. From my place in the crowd, I hear the loud synthesizers begin, and Styles moves his arms in a conductor-like manner, then the overwhelming drum beat kicks in, and he transforms into a rockstar. He’s got this demeanor that comes over him that really drives his stage presence, and specifically this song. Styles and the choir take on this song and make a good song into a great one as Styles begs the crowd to still love him even as he goes through changes, “hoping that love will come around.”
Following pleas for love, “Coming Up Roses” is the next song played, and here Harry sits down at the piano to deliver this ballad in a beautifully intimate way. On stage, Styles sits at the piano, and behind him are violin players who really transform this song into a beautiful symphony.
Straying away from the softer side of the album, Styles pushes the audience into the pop world with his song, “Pop.” I remember this song being an enormous amount of fun. Maybe the crowd was ready to relinquish all those sad songs and start the fun again, because this song truly took the crowd to another level. Along with Harry, we danced and jumped and sang along until the song was over. The chorus of the song says, you guessed it, “pop” with a beat drop, and every time that would happen, all the hands in the crowd would go up in the air. This song I could really tell connected with the crowd and gave us a chance to dance along to a true “pop” song.
Keeping it in a lively world, Styles delivers his dance-pop track off the album, “Dance No More.” From the title, one might think we wouldn’t be dancing to this song, but in fact, this is one of the grooviest songs on the album. Using a lot of call-and-response, Styles tells the crowd that “DJs don’t dance no more, but we want to dance with all our friends.”
The last two songs to be played are more downbeat but are truly at the heart of the album’s themes. In “Paint by Numbers,” the audience sees how fame has impacted Styles and him trying to deal with it while still being grateful. A very intimate song with an equally intimate live performance.
Lastly, “Carla’s Song” is an integral part of the album and this night. Styles shares with the crowd that while he took time away from the spotlight, he made wonderful, healthy, normal friendships that have really helped him have different views on life. He shares a story on Carla, a newly made friend of his, and how they were together, and she brought up a song by Paul Simon how she had never heard of him or any of his music before. Harry recounts how he grew up with Simon and Garfunkel vinyls in his house, and how he was so excited to be able to share that music with a new friend. He puts on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and watches as Carla has a listening experience that leaves her in shock and awe. Styles tells us in the crowd that watching her listen to this piece of wonderful music for the first time reminded him why he is even making music. It helped him resonate with an inner experience of himself, and now he has a passion again for making music that leaves listeners with true starstruck feelings. And “Carla’s Song” does just that.
As a nod to his friend, the song starts with the line “there is a bridge that leads to troubled waters. If you know, then you know. If you don’t then you don’t- it’s heavenly.” And that is a wonderful synopsis of the song. He implores listeners to grab life by the hands, but also take their time because “it’s all waiting there for you.” And as the crowd can go out and chase their many glorious dreams, Styles will be the soundtrack as he says, “I know what you like, you can hear it anytime.” Needless to say, this is a wonderful song, and an even more powerful album closer. I know that I was certainly very moved by this song, and from the crying faces and screamed lyrics around me – I could tell this one was a crowd favorite.
Styles exits stage along with the band, and just when you think he’s done – he’s coming back for an encore. With the original part of the concert, Harry told us that they would be following the album order track by track, so there wasn’t any surprise with the set list. However, Styles had some crazy song surprises up his sleeve for the encore.
The Encore
For the first song, it was just Harry and long-time guitar player Mitch Roland on stage. Roland plays three chords of the song, and the arena screams louder than they have all night. Styles is playing “From the Dining Table,” a song off his debut album and one that hadn’t been played live in nearly six years. From all the songs we heard that night, somehow that felt like the most special one. Styles then goes on to play his classic hits “Golden”, “Watermelon Sugar”, and “As It Was.” I mean, seriously, just absolute pop bangers back-to-back, rarely giving the crowd a chance to collect our bearings.
He wraps up the concert with thank yous to his family, his new friends, and us fans. Styles reflects and tells the crowd how “in a world like we have today that feels so chaotic, it’s easy to become hopeless. But I look at these rooms and what you have created, and there is just so much hope in here.” Thanking us for being a part of this wild ride for nearly 20 years, and “being a light in his life.” He encourages the audience to “be the change in the world that you wanna see,” as the piano plays “Sign of the Times”. He delivers what might just be his best song on paper, in a truly spectacular way. This song is filled with an enormous amount of hope, and it truly rings home with the speech he has just given us.
The song wraps up, but the house lights don’t come up. I remember looking around the crowd, and everyone seemed a bit confused. I mean, it just didn’t feel over quite yet; something felt missing. At this point, my brain starts racking what songs he could even play. I mean, he’s literally played all his new songs and nearly all his most popular ones. Styles, being a little cheeky, starts the beats to “Aperture” one more time. The crowd fully delivers and exceeds my expectations. Similar to the first time this track was played, the crowd has fun with the beat and dances around. This time, however, I can tell Harry is performing this differently. The first time, he was a bit more poised, putting on a show. Now it feels like he’s dancing and singing as if he’s one of us in the crowd. For a moment, we all felt like equals, just people in a room that were all dancing to the same tune. For one last song, all of us give it all we’ve got to make this dance floor rock and disco until we drop.
From my very lengthy description, you might be able to tell this was one of my favorite nights of my life. I had seen Harry Styles in concert before, but this one was seriously on the next level. This performance felt special to all of us. He, his band, the crowd, the crew – we all felt connected in a way that I’m not sure I’ve felt before. Maybe it’s that we all knew we were a part of something entirely unique, or maybe Harry’s right and it’s just fun to dance with your friends. All concerts are special within their own right, but this one was in an entirely different realm.
Maybe there’s something to be said about putting your phone away to truly experience a live moment. I think it’s fair to say that this is one of the reasons this concert felt so intimate and powerful. Whenever Styles would come onto my side of the arena, it wasn’t phones shoved in his and our faces – it was all about being able to savor a special and fleeting moment. I’m so grateful that I got this chance based purely on luck, and I’m very grateful I was able to experience a concert in another, phone-free way, and just let myself dance and enjoy the music. And enjoy the music, I certainly did, for my feet ached and my knees hurt from the dancing and jumping around, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
Photos by Riley Moore
