Live Review: Harry Styles
Love on Tour at HBF Park, Perth Western Australia on 20 February 2023
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photo: Llyod Wakefield (Supplied by Harry Styles)
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“What’s your name?”
“Harry Styles.” The cheery audience dive into a restrained hysteria.
“Okay Harry, how old are you?”
“I’m sixteen.” Aww.
“Tell me a little bit about yourself.”
“Um, I’m working in a bakery…serving cakes, like in the shop bit,” he answers with an assured conviction and comical charm.
“What’s popular?”
“The Viennese Fancies is always a favourite…”
Harry explains the Millionaire’s Shortbread is also popular, although the White Coburg isn’t. Donuts are always a craving favourite. He’s also keen on pursuing Law, Sociology, Business and “…something else”.
After several minutes of meet and greet and the future-parent-in-law-like Q&A, he commences his audition before several hundred wide-eyed onlookers with millions watching worldwide; Soul Sister by Train followed by a Capella version of Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder.
“With a little bit of vocal coaching, I think you can go really far in this competition,” says the legendary talent scout.
With that prescient insight, and “something else”, the rest is history-made.
Harry Styles have rocketed on a whirlwind journey through the catalyst of the quintessential boy band, One Direction – the biggest band on the planet between 2010 and 2016. They were the only UK band to debut at number one in the US Album chart; a feat not even The Beatles had accomplished. Since their breakup in 2016, ex members have featured on solo journeys or idling on long term vacation. But all eyes have been on Harry Styles Inc, who has evolved into one of the most successful and influential individual brands on the planet, selling out to arenas and stadiums across the globe including a fifteen-night stand at Madison Square Garden in New York. The upcoming four sold out concerts in Wembley Stadium isn’t something to gobble about either.
HBF Park in Perth had the honours to spark the Australian and New Zealand tour of Harry Styles’ Love on Tour. The sports stadium had transformed into showcase of the English superstar, cascading a sea of fans in feather flocked boa and jumpsuits slithering through the capacity crowd of thirty thousand Harries.
So, after more than two years of rescheduling, Harry finally stormed onto the stage with Music For a Sushi Restaurant from the 2023 Grammy winner for Best Album – Harry’s House – which is mix of deep glam pop songs and heart wrecking ballads. Golden and Adore You from the 2019 album Fine Line were next on the setlist.
It was evident from the early outset that Harry Styles had unintentionally recruited the biggest and the most intensed back up vocalists, as the choir of thirty thousand Harries pounding to every word, in a beautiful harmony of celebration, solidarity, consolation and unity. Every turn, every wave, every step that Harry weaved was met by the shrieking swipe of hysteria.
“How are we feeling tonight, Perth?”
An imaginary 707 catapulted by four ear piercing turbo jets had just taken off from the stadium.
“Before we go any further, my name is Harry…thank you for spending this evening with us…my job tonight is to entertain you and I promise we will do our very best.”
Harry is a performer, blending an eclectic aura and charisma with dizzying stage presence. He shredded more funk and kicks in Cinema than Disco Stu, oozing a blend of sultry and smooch through the playful gestures that is congruous with his 70’s style light blue flared pants and a fitted shirt with glittery embroidery. Some fans believe the track is about his ex Olivia Wilde, but it is safe to assume she was the last person on their minds.
The performance wasn’t all masked by high tempo and fluidity; the centrepiece of the Harry’s House album is the guitar acoustic, Matilda – a ballad of the broken heart, a deep-rooted lyrical narrative that goes beyond most expectations. Standing at the front of a D-Shaped runway that cut through the field, Harry Styles’ live performance was ingrained with the palpable sincerity that resonated with the storyline, and with lyrics like You don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up drew tears from many, fuelled by a visual spectacle of a sea of glittering diamonds against the backdrop of the Perth city lights. The most emotionally powerful song of the Harry Styles discography cut through the heart, yet like the typical Harry, he comforted them through the warm words that they could be on their own as well. Every audience has a story, soaking the parallel malleability though empathy, catharsis and solitude that Harry was able to pacify in this beautiful tragic. Little Freak oozed a similar sense of sobriety and assurance, casting the “Thinking about you” theme.
After a moment of dreamy reflection, Satellite sprung the crowd into dancing again, followed by the disco trio in Daydreaming, Treat People with Kindness and the anthemic song of the Millennials and Gen Z, What Makes You Beautiful of One Direction. This mainstream track garnered the loudest hysteria, as fans embraced the nostalgia fanning the flame of the ear-piercing cacophony and ground tremoring stomping. It was the party anthem of the night, culminating from the disco performance enshrouded with funk and soul as Harry teases the audience with his cheeky engagement.
Late Night Talking from Harry’s House was another critically acclaimed single with commercial success. He held his staccato choruses, traversing on being funky and wonky with 80’s influences. The lyrics seems to be complementary to his vocal tone, as Harry Styles sang this track into a beautiful trance, propelling everyone to dance.
Bangers in, banger out, Styles moved onto Watermelon Sugar and Love of My Life. For those who have been watching the news, the song written about the airy feeling at the conceptual stage of a relationship is the only song of Harry Styles that Western Australian Premier, Mark McGowan knows off (okay, even then he cheated by someone whispering him at the press conference…but he did endorse the singer after watching the show with his thirteen year old daughter). The final song before the encore was Love of My Life.
Unsurprisingly the first encore was Harry’s 2017 debut solo single Sign of the Times, the transcending and dreamy choir falsetto harmonies that’s impossible to sing (although the studio version was done through a 25-strong choir) and thanks to the thirty thousand Harries, it was accomplished easily. The pop, soft rock ballad, is a heart wrenching track that resonates through his delivery and storytelling prowess. It can be a song about a mother who just gave birth, but only have five minutes to live and tell the child ‘Go forth and conquer’. His range and him stepping away from the manufactured pop art were evident in this performance, with a conviction of delivery through the solitude of darkness that makes him a stadium practitioner. Style sits high, dusting off the remnants of the boy band tag, brewing the realisation of the breakthrough and accomplishment of his solo career, through the balladry of a Bowie-esque phenomena.
The biggest surprise of the night came as he sang The Horses by Daryl Braithwaite. Every mum, dad, guardian and baby boomer were able to contribute in a stadium-wide karaoke.
“You don’t hear that song very much, and when you get here, it’s like a catnip”
As for this writer, it was a surreal moment, after sharing the stage with the iconic singer a fortnight ago. His Australian connection went deep, as the British singer song writer did his “shoey”, drinking from his own sneakers.
“This is one of the most disgusting traditions I’ve heard of.”
The global phenomena closed the night with As It Was and the rock song Kiwi, a genuine rockstar performance that he has added to his eclectic repertoire.
Harry Styles’ off the charts charisma and the poetic nice boy next door appeal is a culmination of confidence in his ownership on stage and fan engagement. Tonight, he propagated the formulae of a stadium performer; the je ne se quoi, the glittering twine and the vocal litheness of a world class solo artist. After catching his show tonight, many critiques would declare him the defining solo artist of the 2020s and beyond.
“You’ve changed my life over and over again.”
Harry Styles, now 29, seems a lifetime away from his audition as that sixteen year old kid.
Harry Styles is touring across Australia with tickets and information available from Live Nation Australia
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Live Nation Australia, Revolutions Per Minute, and Harry Styles for the Press Accreditation and Reviewer seats.
About the Writer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth including Red Hot Chili Peppers, KISS, Sting, Post Malone, RnB Fridayz Live, The Kid LAROI, Midnight Oil, The Killers and Rufus Du Sol, with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, The Fabolous Caprittos and Synthony on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
