Monday 20 June 2022.

Sunday 19 June 2022. HARRY STYLES live at Wembley Stadium. This is the second of his two massive outdoor stadium shows here. Ex One Direction member is on a world tour of stadiums and arenas. His solo success has been stratospheric. After the UK shows he plays North America arenas, including 15 (yes FIFTEEN ) shows at Madison Square Garden in New York and 15 shows at the newly named Kia Forum in Los Angeles. In support of new third solo album "Harry’s House", which was number one in the UK in June. Styles' will be supported by MITSKI, a Japanese-American singer-songwriter who has a large following on social media, and her 2022 album "Laurel Hill" went Top 10 in the UK and other countries. ----------------- My first gig at Wembley Stadium since the summer of 2019, which was a great year for gigs here. I went to the following shows here... BTS - 01 June 2019 SPICE GIRLS + JESS GLYNNE - 14 June 2019 SPICE GIRLS + JESS GLYNNE - 15 June 2019 FLEETWOOD MAC + PRETENDERS - 16 June 2019 FLEETWOOD MAC + PRETENDERS - 18 June 2019 BON JOVI + MANIC STREET PREACHERS - 21 June 2019 BILLY JOEL - 22 June 2019 EAGLES + SHERYL CROW - 23 June 2019 PINK - 29 June 2019 PINK - 30 June 2019 THE WHO + EDDIE VEDDER + KAISER CHIEFS - 06 July 2019 Much more enjoyable watching a live music event in a stadium than a park like Hyde Park or Finsbury Park as those two have just basic facilities and no rain cover or seats unless you are in mega bucks hospitality. MITSKI arrived on stage at 7pm for her 40 mins set. Mitski had use of two big screens showing live footage , and Harry had use of three big screens. Mitski Miyawaki and her five-piece band played the synths and snares of her multi-genre oeuvre, from indie-rock to dream-pop, she danced along with heavily stylised choreography that mimicked the lyrics – and the feelings – of her songs. It felt very Kate Bush at times...very theatrical dance movements during her set. HARRY STYLES arrived on stage at 8.20pm for his 1 hour 40 mins set. The venue is a rammed 80,000 sold out capacity by the time Harry comes on stage. There are three pod areas for big spending fans at the front between the walkways. Behind that is the front pitch area, which is like a second gold circle. Early entry to front pitch standing was a whopping £170 plus £15 booking...yikes... There are rainbow colours and feather boas everywhere in the mainly female audience. The atmosphere is fantastic, as this is a proper communal gathering. A little bit of rain on those standing on the pitch, but nothing too heavy. The scorching Friday heat a couple of days before would have seen many fainting. Harry bounds on to the stage to thousands of screams and cameras going off. An attentive host as well as a magnetic charismatic frontman, Harry repeatedly checked in on the audience between songs and paced every inch of the stage and extended, U-shaped catwalk so that everyone got a chance to glimpse his mischievous grin and heart-covered Gucci one-piece up close. Styles is an utterly modern pop star. He’s a vocal, if vague, champion of the LGBTQ community, teasing at the boundaries of mainstream music with his frocks, fluffy jumpers, big beads, and painted nails. Blurred gender lines are nothing new in pop, of course, and Styles’ fondness for flamboyant suits and bouffant hair owes plenty to Brandon Flowers of The Killers, who has sported that sartorial stadium look for at least the last decade. Harry uses the walkways well, and in the middle of the set performs a few songs there. He got the crowd to sing along to a Freddie Mercury type call and answer. Weighted heavily towards the new album, the setlist also included a rendition of the One Direction hit "What Makes You Beautiful" : a neat move that showed Styles is neither embarrassed nor snooty about his boyband roots. But an encore comprised of the three biggest singles of his three albums – "Sign of the Times", "Watermelon Sugar", and "As It Was" , which has recently spent 10 weeks at number one – ended the night on a note of firm solo triumph. His success has been pretty incredible as Harry said "he first went to London 2012 for his X Factor boot camp auditions, which ended up him enjoying the mega success of One Direction". It was a great show. Full HARRY STYLES setlist played tonight... Music for a Sushi Restaurant Golden Adore You Daylight Cinema Keep Driving Matilda Boyfriends Lights Up Satellite (Helped a make Italian fan come out during intro) Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill cover) (Sang to Elin) Canyon Moon Treat People With Kindness What Makes You Beautiful (One Direction song) Late Night Talking Love of My Life Encore: Sign of the Times ( lots of fireworks for this track) Watermelon Sugar As It Was Kiwi

Posted 20th June 2022