By Genna Cottingham '23
On Saturday, October 16th, 2021, I attended a sold-out, long-awaited Harry Styles concert at Madison Square Garden. Though it was Styles’s 21st show of “Love on Tour,” it was my first time seeing the undeniably talented artist live. Jenny Lewis opened for Styles at approximately 8 pm, and Harry went on promptly at 9:15, with his immense energy and adoration for performing.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Styles and his team took many health precautions to ensure the tour went out safely across the country. “Love on Tour” was originally planned to be Styles’s second world tour. However, the varying COVID vaccination efforts and rise in cases globally forced him to cancel all international shows, except for the United States. All attendees of the show had to be fully vaccinated for more than 14 days; and if there was a person younger than 12, they had to test negative for the virus. Also, every guest and worker in attendance had to wear a mask the entire time, except if they were a performer. The only time you could remove your mask was when you were “actively eating or drinking,” per the Madison Square Garden website. Although the strict health protocols may serve as an inconvenience to some, they certainly did not take away from the experience of seeing such a wonderful performer live.
Jenny Lewis performed before Styles and did a brief, half-hour set. Prior to purchasing the tickets, I had never listened to Lewis, a 45-year-old singer-songwriter originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. She isn’t very well-known in the music industry and has yet to have a hit radio song. Nevertheless, her stage presence was immaculate, with a white jumpsuit featuring marijuana leaves throughout and a mullet reminiscent of the ‘80s. As for her music, Lewis had an interesting accent in her singing voice that made it rather hard to interpret her lyrics. Abstract images of her that were loosely connected to her songs would occasionally pop up on the Jumbotron. With her retro fashion and overall presence as a 21st-century artist, Jenny Lewis reminded me of an old-school country artist similar to that of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks.
Harry Styles carefully curated his glorious setlist that caused my emotions, along with the entire audience’s emotions, to vary from crying to screaming my lungs out to his melodious music. His setlist included 17 songs, all from his first two studio albums; Harry Styles and Fine Line. The only exception was One Direction’s, his former boy band that shot him into fame, first hit, “What Makes You Beautiful.” Opening with his song “Golden,” Styles introduced himself to the crowd as the confident and free person he is. Some of his most heart-wrenching songs were the ones I was most looking forward to experiencing live, which included “Two Ghosts,” “Cherry,” “Sign of the Times,” and “Falling.” On the contrary, his upbeat songs, like, “Treat People with Kindness,” Watermelon Sugar,” “Canyon Moon,” and, of course, “Kiwi,” made me want to dance the entire time.
From the moment he popped up on stage to the minute he blew kisses and walked off, the intense energy filled the arena as we fans expressed our love for Harry. The most superior example of this vigorous energy had to be during the last song he played, which was “Kiwi.” The thousands of teenage girls in the audience belted out “It's New York, baby, always jacked up, Holland Tunnel for a nose is always backed up.” The reference to New York will always remain a highlight while playing Madison Square Garden. The crowd screamed the notorious lyrics with everything in them, myself included. At this moment, people were dancing and jumping up and down so much, the entire arena shook. It was, personally, a little scary, as it is a safety hazard, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world.
All the guests had one thing in common--we all adored Harry. Harry made it known that he, indeed, loved us back with his constant appreciation and gratitude for his fans. Any artist who plays MSG always mentions the specialness of performing in such a prominent arena. Even though the capacity is barely 30,000 people--not even half the size of MetLife Stadium, a popular stop on arena tours, in New Jersey--it felt as though there were so many more fans in the house. During his performance, Styles mentioned the first time he played Madison Square Garden was December 3rd, 2012 with One Direction. He has played arenas four times the size of The historic Garden, but still said it remains one of his favorite performance venues. I could have heard him sing all night, but, alas, his 90-minute setlist came to a close rather quickly. His love for his profession, incredible talent, and wise outlook on life makes Harry Styles one of the best role models any person could look up to, no matter the age.
All photos courtesy of Genna Cottingham
Editors: Adithi Vimalanathan '22, Natalia Cseh '23, Ms. Brilliant
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