After two years of waiting, the day had finally come; I was going to see Harry Styles live at TD Garden. While I did have the privilege of attending Live on Tour back in 2018, as well as two One Direction concerts back in my tween years, this one felt a little bit more special for various reasons. I bought the tickets the second they came out in 2019, and even then the concert date of July of 2020 seemed so far away. But then COVID hit, and it got postponed until October 25, 2021 which felt like an eternity away. As time passed and the date got closer and COVID wasn’t going away, I began to think that the show would never happen and I would never get to see Mr. Styles with my own eyes ever again. However, despite my worries the day finally came and it was showtime, thanks to masks and vaccines.
After putting on our pre-planned and extremely elaborate outfits and listening to Harry’s music for 3 days straight, my friends and I hopped on the green line and headed to TD Garden. Before even arriving at the venue, I knew that the energy in the arena was going to be incredible. Every fellow Harry fan that we met on our journey to the show was so kind and beautiful and just happy to be going to a concert again. When we arrived, after pushing through a sea of glittery dresses, feather boas, and heart shaped sunglasses, we made our way to the merch line. Unfortunately, the time we arrived combined with the long line for merchandise meant we missed the opening act, Jenny Lewis. However, what we heard from the line had us dancing in our spots. About 25 minutes later, I picked out an overpriced hat and T-shirt from the merch selection and happily made my way to our seats. We sat in a club section, centered right in the middle of the arena, not close enough for Harry to see us, but not so far away that we had to watch the whole show from the jumbotron; I was satisfied. We sat in our seats dancing to the pre show playlist, people watching, and making guesses about his outfit and the setlist for about 20 minutes, patiently waiting for the man of the hour to come on stage. And then his band, dressed in baby blue and lavender, strutted out, the lights shut off, and the arena let out a collective roar of excitement.
My heart was racing as the lights flashed and music began to build, and finally Harry rose up from the middle of the stage, glowing like some ethereal being. His outfit was definitely on brand, as he was wearing a sparkly white button up shirt tucked into a pair of high-waisted baby blue trousers with matching suspenders and white heeled boots. While I was hoping for a more unique, extravagant outfit like a sparkly suit or maybe even a dress, he still looked amazing and all that really mattered now was the music.
The first song was “Golden,” which I thought was the perfect choice to start the show off on an energetic and positive note. The stage was centered in the middle of the area, so he was playing “in the round” which meant every fan, no matter where they were seated, got to come face to face with Harry multiple times throughout the show. I watched Harry dance around the giant stage, stopping at each corner to sing verses along the way. I sobbed as I sang along to about the first five songs. His most recent album is so special to me, so I just could not hold in the emotion. My favorite song on the album Fine Line is “She” so I knew that it would be emotional for me to hear it, but I did not expect to sob from beginning to end. I felt the guitar solo with my whole soul. He ended the show with the same amount of energy he started with, doing a three song encore, in the order of “Sign of the Times” “Watermelon Sugar” and “Kiwi.” The next day I woke up with no voice, and I am placing all of the blame on my need to scream the line “I’m having your baby, it’s none of your business” as if it were the last day of my life.
Overall, the show consisted of a lot of dancing, crying, and a rant by Harry about all of the late night ramen shops in Boston. Nothing beats live music in general, but the safe space that Harry creates at his shows is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. He is an advocate for love of any kind, waving pride flags while prancing around the stage and singing about treating people with kindness. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan I highly recommend attending a Harry Styles concert for just a great performance.