As Harry Styles’s UK and European leg of his Tour comes to an end, we reflect on what has been a whirlwind dream of a tour.
After what has felt like a lifetime, Harry Styles brought his Tour, Love on Tour, to a sold-out Wembley Stadium and turned the 90,000-capacity venue into Harry’s House.
America received the Love on Tour treatment in 2021, so it’s safe to say the UK and Europe were long overdue a dose of love from Harry Styles, especially following his long-awaited third studio album, Harry’s House.
Throughout the pandemic, Styles’ popularity and success only seemed to skyrocket despite the world being at a standstill. During that time, he won a Grammy, a BRIT Award, filmed two movies and then toured his second album, Fine Line. As Covid-19 restrictions started to fall away, it was only a matter of time before fans began to question when he would return to the UK. In what was meant to be an arena tour back in 2020, Styles announced a new and improved run of dates across the UK and Europe, which saw him selling out stadiums, rather than his original arena plans.
Who is Harry and why are we going to his house?
If there’s one place you’ll be sure to find me – it’s the kitchen. In particular, Harry Styles’ Kitchen Pit at Wembley Stadium. In true Styles fashion, the three pits in front of his stage were creatively named after three places in his house – the kitchen, the bedroom and the hallway. This inevitably meant fans could say they danced and sang their hearts out in Harry Styles’ kitchen, bedroom and hallway, which is technically true.
The pits were the perfect idea to create an intimate experience for fans, where you could see Styles, up close and personal, dancing and prancing around the square stage and engaging every corner and layer of the stadium he was performing in. It’s hard to imagine how one man can hold the attention of 90,000 fans and fill up such a large space, with him and his talented band members. Speaking of which, this is obviously not the first time Styles had performed in stadiums. In a previous life, he had performed with One Direction, on an immense stadium tour back in 2013 at what felt like the height of One Direction’s success (when in reality, they had only scraped the surface.)
It’s hard enough being a group of five and trying to fill such a large space with your music and small segments of time to speak, but to do that as one person is much more challenging – but not for Styles. Somehow, he fills it more than his bandmates ever could and does so, effortlessly. His music is anthemic and tailor-made for stadiums. He was always the ‘front-man’ of One Direction, but it’s no coincidence that every aspect of his performance, aesthetic, and stage presence has skyrocketed since he went solo. Styles was a pop prince in One Direction, and he knew it. It’s what made his charm so appealing. He was cut out to be in a boyband and was good at it.
But going solo, having creative control over your music and branching out into modelling and acting have massively benefited Styles, his team and his brand. He is not limited to what the industry wants him or expects him to be. He no longer has to limit himself to the mould of a boyband. Instead, he is loved and embraced for his flamboyance, his inimitable dancing and the British charm which separates him from any other male artist competition in the charts at this time.
We Never Go Out of Style
There is not one unfilled moment or missed beat from the start of his performance to the last person getting on the last train out of Wembley. From the moment you walk down those stairs out of Wembley Park and see the iconic arch, it does not take long for the nerves and anticipation of seeing Styles again after so many years to sink in. There are already remnants of feather boas and glitter on the walk up to the stadium, and the outfits people wear are the equivalent (if not better) than the Met Gala -but for Harry Styles fans.
The dress code is pure joy, with waves of feathers, glitter, love hearts and anything else that provokes happiness and joy. Styles has only ever worn a feather boa once to the Grammys, but it’s become a staple of every fan’s wardrobe – a nod to his power as a style icon too.
Each person’s outfit seems like a nod, an ode to an era, or a particular outfit Styles has worn before. In particular, nods to his album, Harry’s House (lots of pyjamas) and bright colours (as seen during his first Tour.)
Lights, Cameras, Showtime
Crowds of people from across the city, surrounding areas, and abroad flood into the stadium, getting ready for two hours of love. People dance and sing along to Harry’s opening act, Mitski, who fills the stadium with confidence and songs that are bound to be on repeat in your headphones forevermore.
The pre-show set list is sprinkled with crowd pleasers and nods to the iconic stadium from Best Song Ever, to We Are The Champions and rounded off with some Spice Girls and…Louis Theroux (because why not?)
Now, as Golden’s number one fan, it’s been hard to sell the idea that Music for a sushi restaurant (aka MFASR or ‘Sushi‘) is the show opener; however, hearing those opening notes of Sushi has become a core memory forever ingrained in my mind. I can’t listen to the song now without hearing the distant screams of 90,000 fans passing out and crying (lots of crying.) You can see him pacing behind the staging where his band are standing, walking back and forth as if he’s calmly pondering life’s big questions, rather than about to perform a two-hour setlist at Wembley Stadium for a solo artist. He strolls out wearing love heart dungarees and his staple Adidas x Gucci shoes and begins to sing.
The adrenaline of hearing his voice live, after so long, or hearing 90,000 people sing back every word to him (despite his album only coming out a month ago), is a feeling etched in the minds and hearts of every single person in that stadium. He sounds fantastic, he looks wonderful and more importantly, after so long, so many people in that stadium feel genuine joy and peace. After the stress of buying tickets or the past two years of the pandemic and all the worries that everyone faces, seems to fall away as he transitions effortlessly from song to song. There is not a dry eye or quiet voice in the stadium.
Let’s all stay at Harry’s House.
Attending a concert felt like a distant memory in the pandemic, so to return to watching live music was a sobering moment that reminded me and countless others of what we had been missing. In true Harry Styles fashion, he made the largest of venues feel intimate and safe.
A stadium is a familiar place where the crowd and Harry match one another’s energy. It’s a place where people are free to be whoever they wish to be. On night two, Styles helps a young man come out as gay for the first time in what feels like an intimate 1-1 conversation. The real beauty of it is when thousands of people cheer with love and acceptance for this stranger, who everyone now feels like they know.
The space feels reserved and respected by everyone in attendance. There is an unspoken code (set by Styles and his anthemic song, Treat People With Kindness), which is the approach to everyone’s conduct and behaviour at his shows. He asks you to turn to your right, hold the person’s hand, and do the same to your left. Followed by him asking you to tell them that you have their back and that you love them. He then asks you to close your eyes and tell yourself that you love yourself. Suddenly, you’ve made friends for life, and you find yourself in a group chat with the girls you met for a couple of hours by chance at a Harry Styles concert (and you realise how many times you’ve walked past one another at his various pop-up stores.)
The Setlist
The setlist is long and expansive and covers various fan favourites. There is less of an appearance from his first album, but Sign of the Times, his debut single, stays.
After experiencing a heatwave not even 24 hours before his homecoming show, there was no sign or chance of torrential rain. However, as the opening notes of Sign of the Times began to ring around the stadium, the heavens opened, and we witnessed Styles perform his debut single in the rain in what looked like a scene from his future biopic. It would not be an understatement to suggest that the rain was a paid actor. It would also not be a surprise if it had only been raining in the stadium at that moment and the rest of London was entirely dry. He then transitions into Watermelon Sugar, and the lyrics, “baby, you’re the end of June,” have never made more sense until that moment.
Among the high tempo, dancing sections of the show, Styles does pause for an interlude of his slower songs, covering the likes of Boyfriends and Matilda from his recent album. Matilda rings close to home for the majority of the crowd. It serves as a much-needed comfort blanket directly from Styles, and you realise that when he says, “you can throw a party full of everyone you know, and not invite your family,” is happening in front of your party. Styles and his loyal, dedicated fans are the chosen family who loves and embraces you for that couple of hours, even if they don’t know you. Love on Tour is a big party for all of the Matilda’s in the world, and for even the small amount of time he performs, the world feels less lonely as you share that moment together.
Despite these emotional moments, nothing can truly beat his upbeat, high-tempo songs such as Late Night Talking, Canyon Moon and Lights Up. Treat People With Kindness transforms the stadium into a dance party, with feather boas, cowboy hats and love heart sunglasses everywhere. There is something transformative about Styles singing “I bring the pop to the cinema” directly in front of your face or the crowd singing “cocaine, side boob, choke her with a sea view” as loud as they possibly can.
The space is full of rainbow flags, feathers, bright colours, knee-high heeled boots and one man who navigates and inspires it all. The show feels too good to be true and so detached from reality that the comedown after is sobering. It’s love in its purest, most unfiltered form, and it’s a grassroots operation, starting with Styles and filtering down to every single seat in the stadium. By the end of it, if you’re not singing, dancing, smiling and/or crying, you’re in the minority. Having fun and being kind are the only two rules of his show, and he and his fans make the most of every second.
In this world, it’s just us.
Once the lights come up, the pit looks like the aftermath of the apocalypse. The one thing everyone has been looking forward to for years, suddenly over in the space of two hours. What the hell do we do now? Fans descend from Wembley Stadium, some already counting the hours until his second night the next day. Fans continue to sing his songs and dance their way to the trains and buses, leaving an abundance of feathers in their path.
The show is an opportunity for celebration and happiness in its purest and most uncomplicated form. It’s worth every penny you spend on a ticket and guarantees you an unforgettable experience and some friends for life in the process. Styles’ transition from arenas to stadiums was the best decision he could’ve made, cramming all these people with one collective goal in the same place. Cramming all that love into one space and creating memories for life (and looking fabulous while doing it.)
As Styles brings the show to a close, he performs his number one single; As It Was, in which he sings, “in this world, it’s just us.” And despite being in a crowd of thousands of people, you truly believe it for the two hours you spend with him.
Love On Tour is a monumental, heartwarming and joyous occasion that brings out the best of a fandom that is so regularly and casually undermined. I have never been prouder to be a fan of Harry Styles. If being a fangirl is listening to incredible music, meeting wonderful people and being a good person, then I would hate to see the alternative.
To read more on Harry Styles, why not true: Harry’s House: Home is Where the Harry is.
For more reviews, why not read: Easy Life: A bunch of boogying boys in bucket hats.