header image: Anthony Pham/PA
words: meg hilborne, @meghillbilly
a celebration of togetherness under the arch
as i made my way down wembley way, anticipation was already building. this was my fourth time seeing harry styles, but the excitement hadn’t faded. the famous walkway was packed not only with his fans, but also england supporters, with a world cup match taking place at the same time. given wembley’s status as the home of english football, it felt strangely fitting that the two worlds collided. “f*cking harry styles fans,” one particularly vocal football fan muttered as he walked past. naturally, i couldn’t resist replying with “f*cking england fans.” later on, i found myself enthusiastically singing along to ‘treat people with kindness’ – a song recorded for styles’s second album Fine Line.
opening the evening was shania twain, who brought plenty of energy and charisma to the stage. unfortunately, there appeared to be some issues with the sound mix, making parts of her set difficult to hear. while i was slightly disappointed that she never delivered the iconic “let’s go girls”, it was still a pleasure to watch such a legendary performer. complete with tinsel woven into her hair, twain looked every bit the superstar and shared a touching story about how harry’s mother was a fan of hers long before he became one himself.
the setlist struck an excellent balance between fan favourites and newer material. the crowd responded enthusiastically to older hits while embracing tracks from styles’s latest album, kiss all the time. disco, occasionally.
between songs, his personality shone through as he joked about british television, referencing escape to the country, and even briefly transformed into a football commentator. with england playing against croatia, he treated the crowd to an impromptu “it’s coming home” dj moment and regularly updated fans on the scoreline throughout the evening.
vocally, however, the performance wasn’t quite as strong as previous occasions i’ve seen him. styles still sounded good, but there were moments where he appeared to hold back, particularly on songs such as ‘watermelon sugar’, often dropping into a lower register or allowing the audience to take over the higher notes. this felt especially noticeable given that i had recently seen him appear alongside stevie nicks at hyde park, where his vocals were exceptional. having also listened to his take on simon & garfunkel’s highly-demanding ‘bridge over troubled water’ at meltdown festival the previous evening, it was surprising to hear a more restrained performance here. that said, any concerns disappeared during ‘sign of the times’, a stunning rendition accompanied by fireworks that provided one of the evening’s most emotional moments.
the new songs translated particularly well live. tracks including ‘taste back’, ‘dance no more’ and ‘are you listening yet?’ landed strongly, although it was noticeable that some audience members used these moments as an opportunity to leave their seats. one undeniable highlight came during ‘coming up roses’, performed alongside a live orchestra. looking across the stadium at thousands of people singing and dancing together, it served as a reminder of what makes harry styles such a compelling live performer.
while his vocals occasionally lacked the power and confidence i’ve come to expect, the show never lost its sense of joy. between the carefully curated setlist, his effortless charm and the overwhelming feeling of togetherness that filled wembley stadium, this was a memorable night. whether he was updating thousands of fans on the england score or leading them through emotional performances, styles once again proved that his greatest strength as a performer isn’t just his music – it’s his ability to make a stadium of strangers feel connected, if only for a few hours.
