Harry calls Glasgow crowd ‘unbelievable’
AFTER revealing it to be his first stadium show, the opening of Harry Styles’s Love On Tour at Ibrox Stadium was a night both audience and the man himself will be hardpressed to forget.
The 28-year-old pop star kicked off the show with Music For a Sushi Restaurant, the first track on his new album Harry’s House.
Dressed in a western-inspired blue and yellow suit with sequined strawberry detail, Styles struggled to keep his composure and sang through an ear-to-ear grin spreading across his face. Following the second song Golden, taken from the album Fine Line, Styles addressed the audience with a traditional call to have fun. He also urged fans to spread a message of acceptance.
He said: “We came here tonight ‘cause we want to give love, we want to be loved. And I promise you that in this building tonight, whoever you are, whatever you are, and whatever you’ve always wanted to be: I love you, we all love you.”
He added: “Thank you so much for coming out, this means so much to me. This is my first ever stadium show.
“I’m going to let you in on a secret…”
After a brief pause, he grinned: “I like it.”
He picked up the tempo with his hit song Adore You. Each song he played felt like a duet with the audience as they sang along.
Known for his energy and charisma, Styles did not disappoint. He leapt and danced about the stage with a childlike grace whilst maintaining a sense of intimacy with the crowd by engaging consistently with their reactions around him.
Daylight, Cinema and Keep Driving followed before Styles paused to address the audience again. He said: “I have to say, making this album has been some of the happiest times of my entire life.
“It’s such a pleasure to be playing it now, tonight. Thank you so much for coming out to see us.”
Styles acted as a tour guide throughout the 20-song set, warning the audience when the tempo slowed for Matilda, Boyfriends and Fine Line which he sang with his white boilersuit-clad bandmates. The crowd was ready to dance again, however, and Styles picked up the pace with Satellite. He reassured the crowd, saying: “It starts slow, but it does get going, don’t worry.”
His seamless baritone vocals never wavered during his energetic gallops about the stage, and he proved not only a professional performer but somebody who seriously loves his job. The crowd went wild when Styles picked up Saltire and Pride flags, and skipped about the stage for Lights Up.
One can expect an electric atmosphere at any stadium pop concert but Styles takes it to another level with his dynamic connection to the moment. He remarked that the Glasgow crowd was “unbelievable”.
He said: “This has already been so special to me.”
He regularly checked in with fans at the front to make sure they were okay and had the stadium serenade one lucky fan who had come for her birthday.
He waved at a friend from school that had come to see him, joking she had brought him a half-eaten bag of Percy Pigs as a gift.
The dancing began again, with fans at the front forming a conga line to Treat People With Kindness, in true Glasgow panache.
The former One Direction band member then treated fans to You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful. If the stadium had a roof it would have blown clean off.
The singer completed the set with Love of My Life for a few minutes before returning with his encore of biggest hits
Sign of the Times,
Watermelon Sugar, and
As It Was.
He ended the unforgettable
night