Why I’m bananas for Harry’s style
The nation’s Janome, Singer and Husqvarna sewing machines have never whirred away in such exquisite unison.
In the weeks before the Harry Styles concert, fans ranging from around 7 to at least 70 spent hours planning and making their outfits for that one special night. Dads taking tween daughters to the show dressed in matching outfits fills my heart – it was an explosion of sequins, vegan leather, and feather boas that I cannot dislike. Harry Styles is a genuine good time.
A disclaimer: I did not go to the concert. I wish I had – it sounds (apart from the trying-to-get-home bit) like a night to remember.
When you look at images of the huge crowd, you mostly notice a sea of pink. After some research I learned pink is not a prerequisite for Styles concerts; anything colourful, creative and preferably home-made will do, as a homage to Harry’s own style – developed over the years from the usual rock T-shirts and skinny jeans to something much more varied and inclusive.
Not everyone at the concert wore sequins. If you were paying attention, you’ll have noted at one point, Styles broke into a refrain – ‘‘she is dressed as a banana, she’s dressed as a banana’’ – which to oldies like me was puzzling to say the least. More research revealed it’s an in-joke he has with his fans, after he noticed one youngster literally dressed as the yellow fruit at a show a couple of years back.
Look, on paper, it sounds a bit naff perhaps? But watch the video on TikTok or Instagram and dare your cold, hard heart to ignore the stonking joy of those two minutes. And I don’t just mean the audience, who went – ahem – absolutely bananas.
‘‘The kids around us started losing their shit and singing along when he was doing that – and it was the oldest I have ever felt in my life,’’ my 30-something mate said in a group chat after the concert.
It is also there on Harry’s face: You can see how well he knows his audience, makes an effort to connect with them and enjoys the shared in-joke. He makes them feel seen.
I repeat – I did not even go to this concert – so why am I such a fan? To explain, we need to step back 10 years to when Harry was 19, and One Direction was in New Zealand for their 2013 Take Me Home Tour.
My oldest child was 15, and I was still on the telly for a job five nights a week. My daughter’s main activity outside dance studies and school was stalking visiting celebrities. I call it stalking – and really, you should never joke about that – but in fact it was harmless if carefully organised and lightly supervised fun.
At first, I was bemused at the lengths these teenagers would go to cross-check, for example, Ed Sheeran’s whereabouts and then map their bus routes from posh hotel, to radio station, to venue sound-check and back to posh hotel. Often, they would stay in a tight group outside the hotel until late at night. I was fine with this, safety-wise, as on these occasions they were always watched hawklike by burly hotel security guards in case one of them broke ranks and dashed past reception into the lifts.
Ed Sheeran was one thing – One Direction was another level entirely. My daughter and her friends came up with a plan; pooling resources, they booked a room at the posh hotel, with a parent in attendance, and waited.
On the second day, the girls went to the hotel gym for a swim, and there was Harry, swimming laps with a single bodyguard in attendance. There was no-one else in the pool. The girls got into the spa, and after a while, Harry swam up to the side of the pool and said hello.
The girls spent a delightful half-hour chatting to him and, because they were respectful and didn’t pull out their phones or lose their shit, the bodyguard wrote down their seat numbers for the Sunday night concert and promised to collect them for a backstage visit.
I was co-hosting TVNZ’s Seven Sharp at the time, and when I mentioned the group had met Styles, my producer asked me to bring them to the studio to tell their story. ‘‘Nope,’’ my daughter texted, ‘‘there’s no way we’re leaving the hotel’’. Eventually we sent a camera crew to record an interview on the pavement outside.
There is selfie evidence of Harry meeting them at the concert – and not once did this young global superstar put a foot wrong with those girls. This left me with two impressions. One, how very clever and organised teenagers can be when they really, really want something; and two, what a lovely young man Harry Styles really is.
The past three pandemic years have been frightening for many, and young people have had plans scuppered and dreams grounded. So moments like this, when an inclusive young rock star connects with his fans, are to be celebrated.
They make today’s world – briefly at least – a better and more hopeful place.
You can see how well he knows his audience, makes an effort to connect with them and enjoys the shared in-joke. He makes them feel seen.