Let me start off by saying: One Direction used to be my entire life (lowkey, they still are). When they first got together as a band, little tween Hannah sat in front of her TV watching them on the X-Factor UK. For the following years, their music was pretty much all I listened to, and I was fortunate enough to get to go to two of their concerts. I have an entire dresser drawer in my room dedicated solely to One Direction concert merch, deluxe edition CD’s of their albums, and a weird variety of anything with them on it (for example, I have a One Direction puzzle that I glued together so it never fell apart…). Nowadays of course, One Direction has been on “hiatus” for like, seven years now. Each of the members have their own successful solo careers, and I still listen to all of their music and support each of them.
Louis Tomlinson, one of One Direction’s band members, is currently embarking on his first solo World Tour, and let me tell you, it’s been fantastic so far. The tour was originally supposed to happen back in 2020, but of course we all know covid-19 said no to literally everything that was supposed to happen in 2020 (and even in 2021). So finally, on February 17th of 2022, I got to see my boy Louis in concert singing his solo album Walls for the first time. Amazing!
The Venue
The concert was at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a smaller venue, and not one that I’ve ever been to, but I had such a blast and absolutely loved it. Doors opened at 7pm, so myself and the group of people I was with got there for 6pm. At this point, the line was literally across the street and around the corner from the House of Blues. We were shocked, but when the doors finally opened, the line moved quickly and we were inside by 7:30pm.
The Merch
Obviously one of the most important parts of any concert is the selection of merch. I was so excited to get my hands on some Louis merch, as I didn’t own any of Louis’ solo merch yet. He had t-shirts, a cream-colored crewneck, a tote bag, hoodies, and more. I ended up snagging the crewneck, which is super soft and so cute, the t-shirt (because duh, you have to), and the tote bag (which I have been religiously using every day since).
The Bar
The House of Blues is a bar, and finally being 21, I was able to try out their Louis-inspired drinks with my friends. They had two drinks, one of which was called the Drag Me Down (one of One Direction’s song titles). This drink was a sweet mixture of Bacardi Lemon, lemonade, and grenadine syrup. It was genuinely so delicious, and I ended up having three of them. It was sweet and definitely tasted like lemonade! 10/10 would drink again. The other specialty drink was called the Two of Us (one of Louis’ solo album song titles). I didn’t personally try this one because it scared me, but it was Grey Goose Peach Vodka, Red Bull, and cranberry flavoring. The combination of energy drink and alcohol icked me out a little bit, but it definitely looked yummy.
The Setlist
- “We Made It” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Drag Me Down” – One Direction, from Made in the A.M. (2015).
- “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Two of Us” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Always You” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Too Young” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Fearless” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Habit” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Just Hold On” – Steve Aoki & Louis Tomlinson, single, (2016).
- “Defenceless” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Beautiful War” – Kings of Leon, from Mechanical Bull (2013).
- “Little Black Dress” – One Direction, from Midnight Memories (2013).
- “Walls” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
Encore Songs
- “Only the Brave” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
- “Through the Dark” – One Direction, from Midnight Memories (2013).
- “Kill My Mind” – Louis Tomlinson, from Walls (2020).
This was an excellently curated setlist. It had all of Louis’ best songs and a couple of One Direction throwbacks, which the audience went wild for. Plus, the Kings of Leon cover was a great song for me to take a pee break to (those Drag Me Downs had gotten to me by that point).
Overall
This was one of the best nights of my life, made better by the fact that I had been waiting almost two full years for it. I went with one of my best friends and made some new friends too! Plus, nearly everyone in the audience had pride flags waving during Louis’ song “Only the Brave”, and this was such a simple but pure moment that absolutely brought me to tears. I had the best time with great people and was literally like, 6 feet from Louis Tomlinson himself.