HARRY STYLES LOVE ON TOUR NYC 2022 // MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IS HARRY'S HOUSE (NIGHT 15)
Welcome to the final show! For 15 consecutive nights Harry Styles turned Madison Square Garden into Harry's House, and I had the most incredible experience seeing him on the 15th and final night of his New York City Love On Tour residency.
This was my fourth time seeing Harry live and there is truly nothing else quite like his concerts, it is an amazing experience every single time. Everyone is always so full of pure happiness and great energy at his shows, it is always such a joy to even be there. I went to two of his Love On Tour shows last October at Madison Square Garden and I love how every show was actually completely different from the other. This show especially was a completely different set-list, with a focus on the songs from his latest album that was released earlier this year. He played almost every song from Harry's House, except for "Grapejuice" and "Boyfriends", with a mix of some of the highlights from Fine Line and his self titled debut.
All four of his shows that I have gone to were at Madison Square Garden and it really is my favorite venue to go to, no matter who the artist is. To celebrate the final night of his residency, Madison Square Garden even gave out feather boas and thank you cards to everyone in the audience before the show which was such a cute and fun surprise! Apparently they had to buy so many boas that there was actually a shortage of them in New York!
Blood Orange was the opener for the show, who is an artist that I wasn't familiar with before, but I really enjoyed their set. Dev Hynes is a great artist whose music has a beautiful ambiance to it that set the tone for the rest of the night. Harry even said later in the show; "...in my opinion he is one of the most important musicians and artists of this generation." After seeing him perform live, I'm looking forward to diving into the rest of his discography!
Harry opened with his song "Daydreaming", which I said in my original Harry's House album review that this song was going to really shine when he performs it live and did it ever! I absolutely love this song and it was an incredible start to the show!
Just like the 2021 leg of Love On Tour and all of his other US shows, Harry performed in the round on a 360° stage with the band in the middle. I personally really like this stage design because then there really isn't a bad seat in the arena, no matter where you are. Especially since he is non-stop moving the entire time!
His fashion is always a big part of the tour too and the outfit he wore for this show was so iconic. It was a sequined Gucci pant and tank top with multicolored stripes - I think this was my favorite outfit he wore of the tour so far!
After "Daydreaming", he played "Golden" and "Adore You", which are two of my favorite songs ever. Fine Line is truly such a perfect album to me, so every song he played that night from it is such a highlight! I also have the most amazing memories hearing them live last year, so that really added to my excitement!
Hearing "Daylight" in New York was so special because the vibe of that song reminds me so much of the city, especially during the Fall. Not to mention everyone singing along to the lyric; "Out of New York, I'm on the come down speed, we're on bicycles saying there's life out there" was such a great moment! So many of the lyrics from that song are my favorites on Harry's House, so hearing them live in a setting like that was so great.
"Little Freak" and "Matilda" are two of my other favorite songs lyrically from Harry's House, which he played back to back during the show, as it is on the album's tracklist. The chorus of "Little Freak" is one of Harry's best he's ever written and hearing 20,000 people sing along to it was beautiful.
For "Matilda", he brought Dev Hynes from Blood Orange back on stage to play the cello during the song. This was the first time it was ever performed this way and it added such a special element to what is already such a gorgeous song. You could really feel all of the emotion in the room during "Matilda" and how connected everyone was in that moment. I definitely teared up a bit during this part of the show!
I loved hearing two more of my favorite songs from Harry's House come to life on stage - "Keep Driving" and "Satellite". Both are truly made to be performed live, the energy during those songs was just amazing. I especially love the bridge of "Keep Driving" and the breakdown at the end of "Satellite" - I love how elevated the live instrumentals were from the studio recordings.
It was non-stop bops for the entire night, but the middle part of the show especially was so much fun! First was "Cinema", which I wrote in my initial Harry's House review that was one of the only songs on the album that I was kind of indifferent to at first, but the more I listened to it the more I started to really love it. Now it's actually one of my most-played on the album and hearing it live gave me a whole new appreciation for it!
After that he played "Music For A Sushi Restaurant", which is a song I've been obsessed with from the moment I first heard it. I knew it was going to be a major highlight of his concerts and it definitely didn't disappoint! The rest of the band is also amazing during the whole show of course, but they especially shine during this section of the show! The energy they create is like no other!
"Treat People With Kindness" is always the best song, you can really feel all of the pure joy radiating off of everyone during this song! To me, this is a quintessential Harry Styles song, one that really just exudes pure happiness and encapsulates everything that makes his music and his concerts so great. After both of the times I saw him in 2021, I talked about how transcending and honestly life changing this song was to hear live and I still feel the same way after the third time. I hope he never takes this song off of any future setlists because it is truly one of his best! He followed it up with the classic "What Makes You Beautiful", which even after twelve years and the thousands of times he's performed this, never fails to get the crowd so excited. After this part of the show, I definitely lost my voice from singing along so loudly!
Then he played two of his biggest hits back to back, "Late Night Talking" and "Watermelon Sugar". I absolutely love "Late Night Talking", ever since he debuted this song at Coachella earlier this year I couldn't wait for the day I would get to hear it live in person for myself!
At this point I'm sure everyone knows "Watermelon Sugar", it has become one of his biggest songs over the past couple of years and is simply so much fun. The added horn section was a great addition to the band for this part of the show too. They weren't a part of the tour when I saw him in 2021, but on this leg of Love On Tour they have elevated the sound so much.
Usually "Love of My Life" (which I loved hearing and was amazing live) is the final song before the encore, but to finish this show for the first time in almost five years he played his song "Ever Since New York"! This was hands-down one of the best moments of night. Hearing this song takes me back to the very first time I saw him in 2018 in New York City. I remember how special it felt then to be in the city hearing it and how I still feel the same way about it now. The harmonies of the crowd singing along to the chorus was so beautiful. Of course singing along to the lyric "I've been praying ever since New York" was such an iconic moment for everyone too! For his final show in New York, I knew he would do something special and I'm so happy to have been there for this!
The first song of the encore was "Sign of the Times", which is always so powerful but felt extra special that night with the lyric "Welcome to the final show". That is such an important and powerful song in his discography, one that has really taken on so much new meaning in the past five years.
After "Sign of the Times", Gayle King came on stage to present Harry with an award for playing 15 consecutive sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden, the first of any artist to do so. A banner commemorating the achievement was lowered down from the ceiling, which will hang permanently in the arena! Only two other artists, Billy Joel and Phish, have a banner commemorating their own record breaking runs at The Garden. You could tell he really was speechless for a minute and could even see him tearing up while looking at it.
"To all of you who bought a ticket, thank you so so much for your support. Things like this don't happen to people like me very often at all," he said. "Any time that you come to Madison Square Garden and you see that, you remember it's because of you, that is ours, thank you so much."
It was so surreal to be there for this moment, growing up being such a huge fan of Harry while he was in One Direction and seeing all that he has become in the years since has been beautiful to witness! I still remember the very first time I heard "What Makes You Beautiful" when I was eleven years old and it's truly amazing to think of how much he has evolved since then. Seeing him be honored with this award twelve years later feels so full circle.
"As It Was" is the song that was my most anticipated to hear live. I love "As It Was" so so so much, it is by far my most played song of the year as well as one of my top Harry songs ever. Like I mentioned earlier with "Late Night Talking", when I first watched his Coachella live stream earlier in the year and he opened the show with "As It Was" for the first time, I was blown away by how magical this song is when he performs it and couldn't wait to hear it for myself! The added electric guitars is just incredible and adds so much to this version of the song. I hope he one day puts out a Love On Tour live album because something about the live arrangement is just so amazing. Of course the bridge is so iconic, as well as the final chorus is just bursting with energy. I especially love when the crowd yells the "Answer the phone, Harry you're no good alone" part too! Needless to say, "As It Was" was everything I hoped it would be and more to hear live for the first time - I wish I could go back and relive that moment!
As always, "Kiwi" was the closing song and one that he never fails to bring the highest energy to. Every single time the ground of Madison Square Garden shakes as if there's an earthquake during this song! After 15 consecutive nights of "Kiwi", I'm surprised the ground didn't finally collapse! "Kiwi" live is always so electrifying - plus thousands of people screaming "It's New York baby always jacked up" in New York is an unmatched experience every single time! It was such an amazing closing performance to a night I'll never forget!
Thanks for reading! If you ever have the chance to see Harry Styles live, I clearly can't recommend it enough! I already look forward to the next time I get to see him again, whenever that may be! If you want to read more Harry related posts or about my other experiences seeing him in concert, click here or check out the links below. Treat People With Kindness! ♡
All photos are my own!
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