Where: Xcel Energy Centre, St. Paul-Minneapolis
When: Sunday, July 1st 2018, 8 p.m.
Harry Styles truly made a statement the night of July 1st.
Harry isn't a pop star anymore, he's a rock star.
Selling tickets not only in front of the stage for his show, but also behind and above the stage due to high demand. The British 24 year old definitely has a devoted and ageless fanbase. The crowd was filled with thousands of teen girls but also men in their twenties or thirties, and parents who have grown to enjoy Harry's music due to the round-the-clock exposure.
The show started off with Country opener, Kacey Musgraves, singing songs mainly off her new album, Golden Hour, as well as some of her fan favourites from previous albums and even a cover of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'.
You could feel the energy and excitement in the room as the screen Styles was behind began lifting, along with the angel-like, choir vocals of his opening song blasting throughout the arena.
After seconds, Styles' impeccable stage presence made itself known as he danced around the stage with the Stones-esque riffs of 'Only Angel' accompanying him in the background.
Styles was sporting a sparkling, rose-gold Gucci blouse, reminiscent of a Prince outfit; very fitting for a venue just half an hour away from Prince's Minnesota home.
Styles then segued his way into 'Woman', a slow, yet groovy song, sounding like something Elton John could have made.
The singer finishes the song, and begins saying the first words of the night in his accent adored by many, fans had already erupted into screams.
"Good evening St. Paul-Minneapolis. My name is Harry. It's an absolute pleasure to be here tonight, thank you so much, thank you for having me. Thank you very much, thank you for coming out and thank you for choosing to spend your evening with us. It is wonderful to see you all, thank you for coming!
Harry is a proper gentlemen, something you don't see much of these days. Most importantly, his charisma and passion shine through even when the lights are dimmed. He is one of the most genuine and humble musicians in the business. Someone with that much personality is hard to find these days. He has the world wrapped around his little finger, and rightfully so.
"I have one job tonight, and that is to entertain you and I promise you I will do my absolute very best. You also have one job tonight, and that is to have the absolute time of your life with us. If you wanna sing, you wanna dance, please feel free to do whatever it is you'd like to do in this room tonight. Please feel free to be whoever it is you'd like to be in this room tonight.
Styles is notorious for bringing pride flags on stage each night. Many were seen during the St. Paul show, as well as others. Harry likes everyone to feel at home during his shows, no matter what race, sexuality or gender. He is constantly asking his fans to treat people with kindness, and to choose kindness above all.
Styles next songs are two slower, acoustic guitar based songs, 'Ever Since New York' and 'Two Ghosts'. After that, 'Carolina', an upbeat, summer groove right out of the 70's got the crowd jumping.
Styles puts his own 70's spin on One Direction's 'Stockholm Syndrome', further proving his rock star status. 'Just a Little Bit of your Heart', a song written by Harry himself for Ariana Grande, was turned into a guitar and drum led, smooth-rock jam.
Harry then moves on to 'Medicine'. It is one of his unreleased songs, but that did not stop the crowd from screaming out the lyrics along with him. 'Medicine' is an alluring, hard rock tune, reportedly touching on the subject of Bisexuality. To set the mood, Styles advances to the psychedelic, 'Meet Me in the Hallway", a track referring to addiction and recovery at the same time.
Styles then makes his way down past a barrier of fans, all the way over to a small B-Stage at the back of the arena for an acoustic set. Singing the guitar love song, 'Sweet Creature" alongside guitarist, Mitchell Rowland, the room lights up with pink lights, a project organized by a couple of fans. In between songs, Harry conversed with the crowd, talking to the parents of a sleeping baby and dedicating the next song to her as a lullaby. 'If I Could Fly', a slow, yet powerful One Direction song gone acoustic echoed through the walls of the room, the song was definitely loved by any 1D fan in attendance that night.
The night was filled with many laughs, Harry is actually quite a funny guy! He attempted calling a fan's mother, after finding out she was at the show, he yelled at her for not picking up. He also got the crowd to sing congratulations to his friends, Nina and Caleb, to the tune of 'Happy Birthday' and he even debated that his 4 nipples were far more superior than a fan's 3.
Returning to the main stage once again, Harry sings another unreleased song 'Anna', featuring a sample of George Michael's 'Faith'. Going back to his roots, Harry sings 'What Makes you Beautiful', One Direction's most well-known song. Harry puts his signature twist on the song, changing it from pop to rock.
After asking everyone to turn on their flashlights, Styles sings the song that began his solo career, 'Sign of the Times'. 'Sign of the Times' sounds like a Queen and David Bowie crossover song, it really set the tone for the album and demonstrated how Harry's style has changed since One Direction. The room was fully lit, due to the lights shining from almost every person in the room. The crowd sang along to the powerful, emotional song before Styles left the stage.
Upon returning for an encore, Styles started off with the last song on his album, the sad, and lonely 'From the Dining Table'. Harry's incredible rendition of 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac was up next, the song that gained him the attention and affection of most of his adult fans.
With lovely complimenting harmonies from his pianist, Claire Uchima, and drummer, Sarah Jones, Harry and his band have been praised for this cover by none other than Fleetwood Mac themselves. The cover is fantastic, all the way down to bassist, Adam Prendergast's excellent execution of the iconic bass solo. During an instrumental break in the song, Harry took it upon himself to deliver a quick speech, which has now gone on to be my favourite of the show.
"I'm only here for 5 more minutes. And if you haven't been dancing that much so far, it's absolutely no problem. If you haven't been singing that much this far, it's no problem. But for the next 5 minutes, I need you singing every single word with me. For the next 5 minutes, I need you dancing like there's nobody next to you. You're not gonna see 'em tomorrow, so gimme some! Is there anybody out there?!
Reaching the final song, the upbeat, hard rock jam, 'Kiwi'. 'Kiwi' was definitely a fan favourite and you could tell the fan's took Harry's words to heart, they danced like there was nobody next to them. During the song, Harry picked up a pair of red handcuffs thrown on the stage and toyed around with them, making the crowd laugh. 'Kiwi' was definitely an amazing way to end the night and left fans wanting more. Harry said his final goodbyes before doing his signature water spray and exiting on stage left.
Harry Styles: Live on Tour was undoubtedly the best show I've ever seen. This modern day rock star is a must see. You will not regret it.
You can listen to Harry's self-titled debut album on any major streaming platform.