Harry Styles returned to Manchester with two sell out gigs at Old Trafford last week to showcase his past two albums Harry’s House and Fine Line.
The 28-year-old artist is most known for being a member of pop group One Direction, but with the band having now been split up for longer than they were together, Harry has been taking the world by storm on his own.
His latest record Harry’s House is the fastest selling in the UK so far this year. In the US he recently reached the feat of having four songs simultaneously in the top 10, which has only previously been achieved by The Beatles.
These records prove just how much of a megastar he has become. It all started back in Homles Chapel, Cheshire, so this local performance was always going to be special.
Throughout night one he thanked every fan for all the support they have given him and spoke about the wonderful memories he has of growing up ‘around the corner’ and in Manchester itself.
At one point he even paused the show to try and find his former school teacher who was in the crowd, he then dedicated one of his songs to her in the humblest of ways.
While a lot of the event was focussed on Harry’s homecoming, the actual show was spectacular and would rival anyone playing that venue regardless of where they came from.
The night started with a warmup performance from the talented Japanese American singer Mitski. She’s been supporting Styles on the UK leg of his tour which has given her great exposure to a British audience.
It was a set that most fans did appreciate, but you could tell that the anticipation for the main event was building. Crowds had queued all day, with some even camping in order to get as close as they possibly could.
Many in the crowd were predicting what the set-list would look like, with some dedicated fans having tickets for both nights, as well as his Wembley Stadium show a few days later.
If you aren’t a huge fan yourself, then the level of following Harry Styles has might come as a shock. Not many musicians in the world can sell out a 50k capacity venue two nights in a row. He is one of the biggest solo artists on the planet right now.
When he eventually came out, the screams could be heard from miles away, he began singing the latest hit from his new album, Music For a Sushi Restaurant. It’s a feel-good tune, and out of all he’s produced it’s arguably the one you can dance to the most.
It was followed by Golden and Adore You, two of the well-known hits from his 2019 album Fine Line. He also opened the show as he always does by introducing himself and urging his fans to live their best life and be who ever they’ve always wanted to be.
What makes a Harry Styles concert so heart-warming is how centred it is around everyone but himself, when you experience it yourself, it really puts meaning to the name Love On Tour.
Later on in the set he played possibly the most important song of all, Matilda. It is the centrepiece of Harry’s House both literally and figuratively. It has you focussing on the lyrics word for word, and it captured the attention of virtually everyone in the stadium. It definitely was the most emotional performance of the night.
The further along he went the more energetic everyone was, and the adrenaline rush didn’t go away soon.
Many at the event have been fans of Harry from the beginning, they went wild for his rendition of the 1D hit What Makes You Beautiful and you could tell it was a real full circle moment.
Styles himself even explained how it felt like that for him, sharing the memory of his first ever X Factor audition which also took place at Old Trafford. Echoing these sentiments, his mother Anne Twist wore the very same t-shirt that was especially printed to support Harry during his time on the talent show.
The encore was perhaps the most telling. The four songs represented every era in Harry’s solo career. It began with a powerful rendition of his debut single Sign of the Times, with phone torches held aloft flooding the stadium.
He then performed Watermelon Sugar, a song that caused a storm amongst many of his female fans when released on the Fine Line album. The penultimate song was his latest single As It Was, which spent 10 consecutive weeks at number one in the UK.
Styles ended like he always does on Kiwi, a song that embodies everything there is to love about 70’s and 80’s rock and puts it at track seven on his debut ‘pop’ album.
It never fails to bring the atmosphere to a peak and shows the best of Harry who is a true performer made for the stage.
The two nights in Manchester were really signified just how far he has come, and all things are pointing towards this being his most successful period yet.
