“Kia Forum is Harry’s House”, signs outside of the legendary LA venue declare triumphantly. Decorated to the nines with photo ops, signs, and lights, the forum welcomed hit popstar Harry Styles home as he returned for 3 nights at the Kia Forum to close out his LA residency. Rescheduled from a series of dates in November that were postponed due to illness, these shows have been long anticipated by fans who missed out on seeing Styles last year. One of the most popular artists as of late (his presale for two Palm Springs dates saw 250,000 people registering for an 11,000 person capacity venue), the air around the venue was ripe with anticipation as 17,000 people gathered in their finest concert attire to dance the night away as the California sun set in the distance.
After a phenomenal opening performance by UK indie-rock band Wet Leg (who joined on to these January LA dates in addition to dates in Australia and Europe later this year), Styles took the stage in dramatic fashion (wearing what is, in my biased opinion, his best outfit yet) to the opening riff of ‘Daydreaming‘, off of his latest, grammy-winning, album, Harry’s House. The setlist expertly blended his latest hits (such as “Daylight,” “Keep Driving,” and “Satellite”) with songs off of his earlier albums (“Golden,” “Adore You,” “Treat People With Kindness”) and even adding “What Makes You Beautiful,” an ode to his past as a member of British boyband One Direction. Fans came together during “Matilda” to organize a fan project, holding up papers in the lower bowl and pit to create a rainbow and spell out the words ‘You are loved’, a touching tribute that visibly moved Styles.
Styles took time during the performance to acknowledge fans in the audience, helping a trio of fans at barricade come out by playfully pretending to wave flags up and down before finally hoisting them proudly in the air. “That… is called edging, if you didn’t know” he said with a playful smirk.
Ending out the main show with hits “Late Night Talking,” “Watermelon Sugar,” and “Love of my Life,” Styles repeatedly expressed his gratitude for the crowd and reflected on his residency. “I won’t have to deal with LA traffic for at least a couple of years!” he joked before reassuring the crowd that he was kidding, ‘Who doesn’t love driving down the 405 at 4 o'clock?.’
Styles remerged to rousing cheers for his encore, beginning with “Sign of the Times.” This show gave a new meaning to the lyrics “Welcome to the final show”, being the last show of his LA residency. As the lights dimmed following “Sign of the Times,” the show paused briefly to unveil a commemorative banner that the Forum hung up, congratulating Styles on 15 sold out shows, before the band launched into fan favorite “Medicine.” Unreleased and rarely played, this was a treat met with the loudest cheers of the night. Styles paused to take a moment to thank the Forum, his band, and the fans before “As It Was,” saying “Thank you for making me very, very, very happy.” Ending out the night with “Kiwi” (preluded by the entire arena singing an early ‘Happy Birthday’ to Styles), they brought the house down before releasing the crowd into the night.
Styles finished up his US Love On Tour shows with 2 nights at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs. He will head off to Australia, Asia, and Europe later this year.
