TonDid you hear his distant screams in New York on Friday night?That’s nearly 20,000 fans freaked out by the chance to see it Harry Styles Only one night at the UBS Arena on Long Island for his new album, “Harry’s House.”
Whether you’re a Styles fan or not (I am), you can’t deny that he does a fantastic job. The 28-year-old pop star has experienced the tension of a stadium show with One Direction, the hugely profitable boy band that put on more than 100 stage shows a year in the mid-2010s, and his comfort on the big stage is palpable. Dressed in leather pants, a heart-embellished tee, and a yellow baubles necklace, Styles is loose without being impulsive, improvising without losing its beat, typically charming and sincere without being overly cliché. He’s a professional celebrity and seasoned entertainer, playing in the rafters, crowded floors, and stage cameras of his home (the show is live on Apple Music).
“Our job tonight is to entertain you. I promise we’ll do our best,” he said after his second song, “Late Night Talk,” part of his now-standard show’s opening remarks. “Please feel free to do whatever you want, and please feel free to be who you’ve always wanted to be.”
This set of 19 songs reflects the ethos of Styles’ 5-year solo career: a carefree feast of love, an intimate space for relaxation, with songs focused on and about women. As a result, the crowd is 85% female, ranging from middle school to middle age (Harry Styles has been attracting teenage girls for over a decade, speaking as a former 1D teen fan.) Many already know All those new songs, even Keep Driving’s rambling lyrics—”How?!” Stiles said at one point—and the night in the building was a constant scream.
Having fun on Harry Styles’ gig is an easy question, as he seems to be having fun too – hopping around the stage runway, spinning his arms to the current single As It Was, pumping his fists all over his body To the vocal climax of his more stadium-sized songs, like the new track Satellite or the crowd-favorite Kiwi on his debut album. The episode follows the structure of his first One Night Only concert in Los Angeles for his second album Fine Line in December 2019: the new album goes from top to bottom — “the way it plays” — followed by the most Popular encore. In this case: Worship You, Watermelon Candy, Times Signs (the biggest hits that benefited the most from live performances), his standard rock solo version 1D’s What Makes You Beautiful, Kiwi and Untouched.
New album as Lindsay Zoladz wrote In The New York Times, he projects a vivid soundscape while keeping Styles’ dreamy cipher—a contrast that’s less apparent in live performances. From the early days of 1D, Styles has been almost comically charismatic and magnetic on stage, and his confident live rendition of Harry’s House brings a zest that lyrics sometimes don’t. Of course, there’s also the gender factor: As some have written, Styles’ The most horny album of all time, the singer indulged in many hip-loose dances and played his image as an attentive purveyor of female pleasure. (When he interrupted the beginning of “Boyfriend” for “I have more to say,” he added in a collective shriek, “Sorry – marginalized.”) Is this pandering? Maybe. Is it fun? Absolutely.
This is due in part to his relaxed command of the stage, as well as a healthy appreciation for the power and trappings of crowds. Twice during the show, fans alerted him to the disturbance on the floor — assuming someone passed out or felt sick — and he responded quickly, asking several times for the lights in the house to be raised and another for water.
Between songs, he thanks his co-producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson on the album, both in the crowd (along with Styles’ girlfriend Olivia Wilde) and frequent collaborator and onstage guitarist Mitch Rowland. But the warmest and most repeated thanks go to the fans — “every one of you” — for changing his life. “I don’t think I can do this [album] If you hadn’t created an environment for me where I felt like I could, I know I could,” he said during the second half of the show. “And I know it’s me on this stage, but I’ve learned a lot from you. , I want to thank you very much. “
“It was the best night of my life,” he said before leaving the stage. It really doesn’t matter if this is true. The mission was to have a good time, and he did just that.
