Harry Styles cemented his position as the crown prince of pop with a 'career highlight' Meltdown concert, performing alongside the Jules Buckley Orchestra.
Intimate Atmosphere at Royal Festival Hall
The approach to the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall looked more like the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport last night. A gaggle of young women and girls with pleading eyes flanked the entrance queue, signs held aloft, begging for tickets. Some came alone, some came in groups as large as 12. It is something I always knew happened at gigs but had never witnessed to this magnitude, especially considering the chances of them scoring a ticket were exceedingly low.
With a capacity of 2,700, Harry Styles's much-anticipated Meltdown Festival performance is one of the most intimate of his entire career. But perhaps that is exactly why the hopeful young women were there. They knew it, I knew it, even Harry Styles knew it: last night was a once-in-a-lifetime affair.
Orchestral Collaboration
As the Jules Buckley orchestra filtered onto the stage, it also became clear that half of the audience was experiencing this kind of concert for the first time. Applause was uncertain but genuine. Styles's imminent arrival almost felt implausible, as if without the industrial pageantry of a stadium gig he simply could not exist. But there he was, walking onto the stage to a fraction of the applause he has become accustomed to, as thrilled to be there as any of his audience members.
Shouts of 'I love you Harry!' were quickly hushed by the beginning of Boyfriends, a track from Harry's House that has fallen out of his stadium setlists in favour of newer music. It was only right that he open with a track from his third album, his most critically acclaimed body of work and arguably the thing that landed him the prestigious honour of curating this year's Meltdown Festival.
Next came Kiss All The Time, Disco, Occasionally's Paint by Numbers, the setting gifting new weight to its opening line, 'Oh, what a gift it is to be noticed…', followed by Matilda. It is always nice to see the Harry's House resident on the setlist, and she was no less appreciated tonight.
At numerous points, Styles gave way to the Jules Buckley orchestra to perform their own tracks, including the violin-led Matter Red and cello-dominated Hummingbird. It might have left some fans confused, but it helped to reinforce the respectful, introspective mood of the room and hopefully opened some young fans up to classical music.
Speaking halfway through the set, Styles praised Buckley. 'I have always been a lover of orchestral music, but it is something quite intimidating to step into as someone who cannot read… music,' he told the audience, who lapped up the pregnant pause. '[Jules] never made me feel like I did not belong here.'
Transformed Tracks
While the opening crop of songs had essentially felt like scaled-up versions of Styles's slower tracks, the next ones took on a whole new life when given the ballast of a full orchestra. It was a triple-whammy of Two Ghosts, The Waiting Game and Fine Line, the latter being arguably the best Styles original of the night.
Acknowledging the personal significance of the performance, Styles shared: 'Thank you so much for being here tonight. [It] feels both present and incredibly not present to be so aware that you are in the middle of your career highlight.'
Emotional Finale
It was the third act that truly sealed the deal. After a delicate, sweeping rendition of newly minted fan favourite Coming Up Roses – composed with the Jules Buckley orchestra for KATTDO – Styles took a second to explain the meaning behind album closer Carla's Song. It was inspired by playing Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel for a friend, the titular Carla, for the first time, he explained. We should have known what was coming, but it was even better being caught off guard.
Closing the performance after Carla's Song and another Jules Buckley piece, Styles lay his fingers down on the piano to play the opening notes of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The audience was still, enraptured, sitting peacefully in the palm of Styles's hand. And as his vocals reached new, perhaps hitherto unseen heights in the final rendition of the chorus, Styles secured the Hail Mary moment of an already exceptional night. A standing ovation, and then an exit, stage right.
