When Harry Styles isn’t starring in Olivia Wilde’s upcoming psychological thriller entitled Don’t Worry Darling, or garnering unwanted petty tweets from politicians online for wearing a dress, he’s going on tour. Love on Tour was originally supposed to kick off in early 2020, just after the release of his sophomore album “Fine Line”, but that was before the world closed down and concert venues with it. Instead, it was rescheduled and is well underway on the East Coast now. It began in early September in Las Vegas, and a few days later arrived in Texas, where me, my mom, my sister, and approximately 19,000 other people crowded into the venue in San Antonio to witness the international legend that is Harry Styles.
He opens the show with a fan favorite, “Golden,” you may know it as the first track on “Fine Line” or the one with the music video where he’s running along the coast in Italy at sunset with his shirt unbuttoned. The screaming from the audience only gets louder when people take in what he’s wearing for tonight’s concert. A sheer sparkly purple shirt, high-waisted white pants, and a pair of suspenders, because if there’s anyone who can pull off suspenders it’s Harry Styles.
From there, he launches into various other hits such as “Adore You” and “Only Angel” both of which have the crowd dancing, jumping and generally hysterical. In the pit, fans wave handmade signs, throw hats, flowers, and flags on stage, all vying for Harry’s attention. One lucky girl does catch his attention, as he seems to recognize her from the last tour he went on, and asks her if she cut her hair. When she says yes, he smiles with both dimples and tells her it looks good. The crowd screams even louder than before. After a brief interlude where he does a speech, we move to the slower songs of the night, the ballads like “Falling” and “Two Ghosts,” both of which have most of the crowd in tears, myself included. No time for tears though, as next up are songs like “Sunflower Vol. 6,” “Lights Up,” and “Treat People with Kindness,” all of which are the upbeat happy songs from “Fine Line.” During “Treat People with Kindness,” Harry dances around the stage waving several flags, one for gay pride, lesbian pride, transgender pride, and Black Lives Matter.
Then we get to the song that started it all. It wouldn’t be a concert from an ex-member of one of the most famous boy bands of all time, if said ex-member didn’t perform their biggest hit which kick-started their stardom. This song is, of course, “What Makes You Beautiful,” the first official single from One Direction back in 2010, when Harry was all of 16 years old. 27-year-old Harry doesn’t disappoint, singing the lyrics as if he hasn’t been singing them at every concert he’s put on for the past 11 years. From that upbeat throwback, we transition into the song “Fine Line,” for which the album is named. One ballad to another and he’s singing “Sign of the Times,” his first single as a solo artist which is, similar to “Fine Line,” full of beautiful lyrics, a chorus to scream your heart out to, and dramatic beat drops. During one beat drop, a disco ball drops from the ceiling, bathing the area in sparkly white light. The encore included two personal favorites, “Watermelon Sugar” and “Kiwi,” both of which require screaming and generally losing your mind. The concert ends after “Kiwi,” an incredibly high-energy closer, and Harry leaves the stage (putting on his mask first, because, of course, he does), and the rest of us were left with no voice, probably permanent hearing loss, and severe post-concert depression. But it’s all worth it when it comes to Harry Styles.