Harry Styles Kicks Off Record-Breaking London Residency

LIVE: HARRY STYLES (Wembley Stadium)

Rating:

Verdict: Triumphant pop party (4/5 stars)

and Take That both racked up six, while went two better last year by playing ten nights at Wembley Stadium. 

But as he launched the UK leg of his Together, Together tour before an excitable crowd in London, began a residency that will see him play 12 shows beneath the famous Wembley arch – the most by any artist in a single year.

It was an emotional night, one that showed just how far Styles, Britain's only truly global pop sensation, has come since he sprang to prominence with boy-band in 2010. 

His music, certainly on the evidence of his oddly-titled recent album – Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally – can be arty and experimental, but this was a show that relied solidly on more traditional values.

'My name is Harry, and it's a pleasure to be here,' said Styles, 32, after arriving onstage in a pinstriped jacket which, to loud cheers, was quickly thrown to one side.

'Just outside this building, 16 years ago, my sister brought me to Wembley Arena for an X Factor audition. It was there where I first got into a band. Driving here today, I drove exactly the same way as I did 16 years ago.' 

Styles, born in Redditch and raised in leafy Cheshire, seemed genuinely moved by the memories of his first visit to London.

The Together, Together show isn't short on spectacle. Staged partly in the round, with a main stage and a series of illuminated walkways and bridges on the stadium floor, it made full use of the huge space. 

The sprawling set-up sometimes made it hard to follow the star of the show as he bounded energetically around, his outline getting lost against the rows of fans, but Styles's winning boy-next-door personality and supple voice ultimately shone through to make it a night to remember.

After opening with this year's upbeat Are You Listening Yet?, he went on to lean on his pop-orientated back catalogue, dipping into 2019's Fine Line and 2022's Harry's House. 

He strapped on a guitar for Golden and was accompanied by two female musicians, a trumpeter and saxophonist, on a rousing Watermelon Sugar, with the trio making their way in unison along one of the walkways.

With a largely female audience decked out in sequinned skirts, feather boas and pink Stetsons, the mood was one of communal celebration. 

Fans on the floor danced a conga, and Styles split the seated areas into different sections to see which one could shout the loudest – a tried and trusted crowd-pleasing tactic. 

Among the placards I spotted in the crowd were 'Harry is better than homework' and, worryingly, 'I postponed spinal surgery to be here.' 

One fan, Ella from Sunderland, asked him what his favourite type of egg was ('fried, followed closely by scrambled').

As he moved on to songs from his latest album, there was a subtle mood shift. For all their adventure, not all of the tracks on Kiss All The Time… are bangers that are tailor-made for the biggest stages. 

American Girls was subdued, and the indistinct melody lines of Season 2 Weight Loss felt underwhelming. For all Styles's charisma, there were occasional lulls.

But a number of the newer songs sounded stronger live than on record, with the moody Taste Back boosted in its live incarnation thanks to a muscular snippet from Underworld's electronic dance classic Born Slippy. 

Coming Up Roses, a romantic ballad featuring chamber strings and Harry on electric piano, felt like a throwback to his boy-band days.

The show sped to a spectacular finale, with Styles reiterating his party-starting credentials on a funky Dance No More, and fireworks shooting high into the London sky during Sign Of The Times. 

'Seeing what we create together, this energy and community, I've never felt more optimistic about the future,' he said.

Next up is Tuesday night's (June 16) one-off orchestral concert at London's Southbank Centre, part of Styles's curation of this year's Meltdown festival, where he will get to indulge his more arty side. 

Then it's back to Wembley Stadium – where this was a triumphant start to his record-breaking residency.

• Sign up for our Spotlight newsletter, direct from our Showbiz expert Katie Hind