HARRY STYLES LOVE ON TOUR NEW YORK CITY NIGHT 2 // CONCERT EXPERIENCE
It's New York, baby always jacked up! After a long two year wait, I'm so excited that I finally had the chance to see Harry Styles live again in my favorite city for the second New York date of Love On Tour! The energy in the crowd at Madison Square Garden that night was insane, the ground was literally shaking as if there was an earthquake from everyone dancing and jumping all night! It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to!
Harry Styles is one of my favorite artists ever and I have looked forward to seeing him again in New York City after the unforgettable experience I had in 2018. Seeing him live for the first time three years ago was one of the best nights ever, I always think about how incredible that show was and how much fun we all had. It feels so special that I was able to hear his first album in it's entirety in 2018 and now I got to hear Fine Line in it's entirety now too! Both are two of my favorite albums of all time and mean a lot to me!
This show was originally scheduled for June of 2020, but for obvious reasons the tour had to be postponed until now. After nearly two full years of having these tickets and all of the ups and downs that came everyone's way during that time, I couldn't imagine the next time live music would be back in the foreseeable future. Even just two months ago, I couldn't see myself being in a room with 20,000 other people anytime soon. But now that live music seems to be coming back, I'm glad that Harry's was my first concert since the pandemic started. All events in New York City require full vaccination to enter and must have a mask on, both of which are actually enforced too. Every city and state is different but those precautions made it feel like a safer environment in that regard. Madison Square Garden is the best, if you haven't seen a show there and ever have the chance to I cannot recommend it enough.
The show's opener was singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis. I wasn't too familiar with her music before the show, but I know that she does have an extensive discography over the past 20+ years and after seeing her perform, I definitely want to dive into more of her work! Her sound is modern indie rock with a little bit of a Stevie Nicks flare.
Harry's set opened with the audio of Charles Bukowski reciting his poem called "Style" mixed with the opening chords of Harry's song "Golden";
"Style is the answer to everything.
A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing
To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it
To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art."
"Golden" was the perfect opening song to not only the setlist, but also for Fine Line as an album. The moment I first heard the song back in 2019, I knew that this was the best way to open the album and would sound incredible as an opener for the tour too! I remember the ground was shaking so much during that song in particular, but that was definitely recurring throughout the rest of the show! This song was just as incredible as I knew it would be to hear live!
For the entirety of the show, Harry was non-stop moving - the stage was 360° with two catwalks at opposite ends. I actually loved that stage design because everyone in the arena would be able to see everything regardless of where your seats are and made it feel more immersive too. His entire band of course is so incredibly talented too and brought so much energy to the show!
The set was back-to-back with truly amazing songs, I can't even begin to describe what the best moments were! He played Fine Line in it's entirety (even "To Be So Lonely"!) and some of my favorites from his debut album too! Funny enough, he didn't play "Ever Since New York" in New York, but I guess there's always next time! "Carolina", "Only Angel", and "Woman" are some of my favorites from his first album that I loved getting to hear in 2018 and I'm glad he kept those on the set list again!
It was amazing to be able to hear songs from Fine Line live for the first time; notably the third song, "Adore You" has been and will always be one of my favorite songs from Harry. Watching the song come to life on stage with so much energy and hearing thousands of people scream the words was such a great feeling! I feel the same way about hearing "Lights Up" live too, when that song came out I played only that song on repeat for probably a month straight (or more) and it was my most played song of 2019 even though it was only out for a couple months! I absolutely love love love "Lights Up" and hearing it live for the first time in that setting was unforgettable.
I would probably say the greatest moment of the show for me was when he performed "Canyon Moon", "Treat People With Kindness" and "What Makes You Beautiful" all in a row - it was about fifteen minutes of pure joy radiating off of everyone in the room! I have been lucky enough to see so many of my favorite artists live in concert and there are certain songs that just stand out to me as being so transcending and almost life-changing live experiences ( "Kiwi" by Harry in 2018, "Greenlight" by Lorde, and "The Sound" by The 1975 stand out to me right away as examples of this) and I definitely also felt that way about that trio of songs he played. I was singing and dancing along so much that I was actually out of breath by the end of it!
The ground was once again shaking so much especially during "What Makes You Beautiful", which is the song that truly started it all for everyone there and it's crazy to think that it's been out for a decade now - I still remember the very first time I heard that song when I was just eleven years old! I love that he still performs it after all this time and found a way to make it his own now that he's a solo artist. Being a fan of his from the start, I loved getting to see him blossom into the artist he is today and is continuing to evolve into year after year! During the show he expressed many times how grateful he is to be there and for all of the support during this journey. At one point in the show he said, "You've been amazing tonight and if you've been supporting me for one year, two years, five years, eleven years, whatever it is thank you. This doesn't happen to people like me very often and its only because of you."
Hearing "She" live and especially hearing Mitch's guitar solo at the end was such a highly anticipated moment for me too! Of course another favorite is "Sunflower Vol.6" which was just as amazing as I always dreamt of it being to see him perform! Those are two songs that were immediate favorites for me when I first heard them and continue to be some of my most played from his discography. I love that he played "To Be So Lonely" too, which is a song that he doesn't always perform at every show but thankfully he did at mine! It was an iconic moment to be able to scream the "arrogant son of a bitch" line with 20,000 other people too (same with the "ayyy woooooo-ooooo do do do do do" part at the end of "Sunflower Vol. 6" lol) The entire night was just so full of energy, it was incredible. Even on the slower songs that he played on opposite ends of the catwalk, "Falling" and "Cherry", it still felt so alive in Madison Square Garden and gave me a whole new appreciation for them.
Before I get to the end, I have to mention the iconic Gucci outfit he wore too - I love those polka-dot pants and the sheer off white shirt! It's always so fun to see what he is going to wear on stage, I love how his fashion has also become a part of the show itself over the years!
Hearing "Fine Line" and "Sign of the Times" during the encore was such a powerful experience, especially in the context of the last year and a half we all went through. Before he started "Fine Line", Harry said; "Over the last 18 months we have all been through something collectively and we have all been through something as individuals. I just wanted to take a moment during the next song to remember a time where we couldn't be in this room together and how special it is that we are able to be in a room full of people, full of love. If there's one thing I learned over the last 18 months it's that time with the people you love is the most important thing in the world...If we just have each other's backs, I think we'll be alright."
Both of those songs are so full of hope and have taken on a whole new meaning for myself and so many since their release. I love the repetition of the line "we'll be alright" throughout "Fine Line" and the way it shares a similar message to "Sign of the Times". Lyrics like "We don't talk enough, we should open up, Before it's all too much, Will we ever learn? We've been here before, It's just what we know, Stop your crying, baby, it's a sign of the times, We gotta get away, we got to get away" have always felt so powerful and emotional but now they hold so much more meaning. It feels somehow even more moving in the time of history we are currently living through.
Of course he saved some of the crowd favorites for last, "Watermelon Sugar" and "Kiwi"! I'm sure everyone knows "Watermelon Sugar" by now, Harry himself even said "even the dads know this one!" when pointing to a group of dads in the audience. Over the last year that song blew up and was everywhere, it was his first #1 song and even won his first Grammy for it earlier this year! I loved being able to hear that one live finally!
His final song is his best song to hear live - "Kiwi"! Screaming "it's New York, baby always jacked up!" in New York is an unmatched experience and truly so incredible. If you haven't seen Harry perform "Kiwi" before you have to check out a video of it! I can't even describe it, you need to see it for yourself! At every single show this song is so fun, wild and full of energy, I absolutely love this song live!
I am actually going to be seeing Harry one more time this month, for his special Harryween concert celebration on October 31st at Madison Square Garden! My next post will be all about that show, so be sure to come back for that! I'm so thankful that I get to go to these shows, I have looked forward to them for so long and can't believe the time has already come! If you ever have the chance to see Harry live, I obviously cannot recommend it enough! He is an incredible performer and puts on an amazing show. The entire night was so full of love and joy and was such an unforgettable experience.
If you want to read about my experience seeing Harry for the first time live in 2018 in New York City Night 2 click here!
Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! Treat People With Kindness! ♡
All photos are my own!
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