Harry Styles Opens Wembley Residency Reflecting on X Factor Beginnings
Harry Styles commenced the first night of his record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium by reflecting on his audition for The X Factor, which took place 16 years ago.
"Just outside of this building, just next door in Wembley Arena, my sister brought me to London for the very first time,"said Styles, who was born in Redditch and raised in Cheshire.
"It was… in that building that I was put in a band. We were called One Direction,"he recalled, eliciting screams from a sold-out crowd of 80,000 fans.
"My sister is here tonight,"he added.
"I want to thank her. I love you and I appreciate you."
Later in the evening, Styles expressed gratitude to his mother, Anne, who had secretly registered him for The X Factor at the age of 16.
"I wouldn't be here today if she hadn't done that,"he stated.
"I thank you so, so much."
In 2010, Styles auditioned with two songs: Train's "Hey Soul Sister" and Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," securing his place in the globally successful band One Direction.
Before this, the first song he ever recorded was Elvis Presley’s "The Girl of My Best Friend." Fittingly, his entrance music at Wembley was also an Elvis track, a cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
Styles shares several traits with the King of Rock and Roll, including his striking appearance and distinctive hip movements.
At Wembley, these attributes, combined with his powerful pop hits such as "As It Was" and "Watermelon Sugar," captivated the audience.
Fans arrived adorned in sequins and feather boas or dressed in waistcoats and ties. During the performance of "Fine Line," they held up paper hearts and painted red lips on their necks, referencing Styles' latest album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Hand-painted signs welcomed Styles home and humorously requested, "Can I be your intern this summer?"
One particularly notable sign caught Styles' attention.
"We have some hard-hitting journalism down here,"he remarked, highlighting a sign from Ella, who had traveled from Sunderland.
"Ella's sign says, 'What's your favourite type of egg?'
"Um... I like a fried egg. Followed closely with a scramble."
Though seemingly random, such moments of connection are central to Styles' performances.
The show emphasizes community and the shared joy of
"dancing together, sweating together and singing together."
Onstage, the musicians exhibit camaraderie, interacting playfully with Styles by twirling him around or stepping aside to allow him to explore a vintage synthesizer.
Nevertheless, Styles remains the focal point of the show.
He can provoke enthusiastic reactions simply by adjusting his shirt collar. The stage design for this tour facilitates close interaction with the audience.
Three interconnected catwalks extend into the crowd, dividing the space into smaller sections.
This arrangement creates an intimate atmosphere in the standing areas, resembling a club show rather than a stadium concert, with Styles moving along the edges, blowing kisses and posing for cameras throughout the night.
Adjustments have been made to the stage setup since the tour's launch in Amsterdam last month, including the removal of some 10-foot-high "bridges" that previously obstructed fans' views.
The setlist drew from all four of Styles' solo albums, featuring everything from the upbeat pop of "Adore You" to the sweeping balladry of "Sign of the Times."
However, there was some uncertainty surrounding his new material, which has not received the widespread acclaim typically associated with the 33-year-old artist.
Kiss All The Time... was promoted as a dance album inspired by Berlin's club scene and transcendental experiences watching bands like LCD Soundsystem.
Instead, critics described it as a diluted imitation of those influences, labeling it "unremarkable," "obtuse," and "lacking in depth."
Onstage, however, the songs were invigorated.
This revitalization was largely due to Styles' versatile and dynamic band, which expanded to 18 musicians at times, providing strong bass and driving rhythms that energized the grooves.
The opening track, "Are You Listening Yet," featured an irresistible soca rhythm, while a sample of Underworld's "Born Slippy" gave "Taste Back" a much-needed energetic boost.
The recent single "American Girls" was extended with a lengthy, psychedelic introduction, during which Styles experimented on an old analogue keyboard, manipulating low-pass filters and producing squiggly synth sounds.
This experimental approach was impressive, though some audience members appeared unsure how to respond.
They showed greater enthusiasm for "Golden," jumping energetically until the stadium seemed to shake. Later, the lively "Treat People With Kindness" prompted a giant conga line weaving through the venue.
Despite a persistent cough that occasionally added a new raspiness to his voice, Styles matched the crowd's energy.
His recent marathon training has evidently improved his stamina, enabling him to sprint around the stage without losing breath.
While he was firmly opposed to choreography during his boyband tenure, he has clearly received guidance on stage movement.
His dancing avoids any sense of awkwardness, instead exuding the effortless charm of a best man at a wedding where the bride favors him over her new husband.
Friday night's concert marked the first of 12 scheduled performances at Wembley Stadium, surpassing the previous record held by Coldplay (10 shows last summer) and Taylor Swift (eight shows in 2024).
This residency model will be replicated in all seven cities visited during the Together Together tour this year: Amsterdam, London, São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Styles explained that anchoring the tour in this manner allows for more elaborate productions while safeguarding the health of himself and his band.
"It's not like I'm saying I'll never travel again, but I want to see what it looks like if you do it a different way,"he told Apple Music's Zane Lowe.
"People in my band have families now and kids [and] it's really important to me that they're on the road. I don't want to make it near impossible for them to be able to come do that with me."
This consideration was evident in London. When Styles acknowledged his stage crew at the show's conclusion, their faces appeared on the video screens, surprising some attendees.
He emphasized to fans that the crew represents the most vital component of the entire endeavor.
"Thank you for choosing to spend your evening with us,"he said midway through the concert.
"Seeing what you all created together - this energy, this community - I've never felt more hopeful about the future."
Though a profound statement, especially in light of current global events, for two hours the audience set aside their concerns, forged new connections, and experienced joy.
And that, above all, is significant.
Harry Styles' Wembley Setlist
Full setlist details were not provided in the original article.
