Harry Styles Proves He’s the Male Pop Star We Need on First Night of Los Angeles Run

A Harry Styles concert is what Beatlemania must have felt like.

For the 17,000 people at the singer’s opening Love on Tour concert in Los Angeles on Sunday night (Oct. 23) — many of whom were certainly not alive in the 1960s — the eardrum-rupturing screams and cries as the 28-year-old superstar walked on stage brought up a sweet nostalgia for the rock n’ roll days of the past.

Dressed in an orange and white suit, embellished with sparkling palm trees, Styles introduced his 15-night run at the Kia Forum with the Harry’s House fan favorite, “Daydreaming.”

The Grammy winner then delivered an hour-and-a-half set list (below) of career-spanning hits, from his debut album’s “Kiwi” and Fine Line‘s “Adore You” to his third studio LP’s hits like “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” “Cinema,” “Late Night Talking” and many more. While the set lists have evolved over Styles’ tours, one thing remains the same — the glitter-dressed fans singing every word so loud that you can barely hear Harry, waving their feather boas in the air and dancing freely with their fellow concert attendees.

Notably, Styles didn’t perform the Harry’s House track, “Boyfriends,” but thankfully, opening act Ben Harper took on the poignant ballad, as he played guitar on the original recording. “I’ve recorded in a lot of different environments with a lot of different people, and this stands out as one of the most exciting and gratifying sessions I’ve ever done,” Harper told Billboard of recording the track. “[Songwriter] Kid Harpoon and Harry, they were very patient. We went in and kept throwing ideas and, finally, I just tried one idea that really stuck.”

“I try not to put expectations on a crowd, lay them all on my shoulders. I walk up there and just give everything. Be well enough rehearsed to have a lot of fun,” Harper added of his set, which also featured both his children joining him onstage to perform. “It’s got to be fun or I should be doing something else.”

Styles wrapped up his high-energy set with a jam-packed encore, and with two songs left of the show, the singer noticed a couple heading out of the arena to try and beat the Los Angeles traffic. “We’re not finished! Go back!” Styles jokingly shouted at them, and the duo (now on the jumbotron) followed the star’s orders and went back to their chairs. “We’ve got two songs left, back to your seats! We can see you sneaking out. I’m not done!”

And while the playful interaction, of course, was just a display of Styles’ goofy sense of humor, his declaration of “I’m not done” struck a chord as he delved straight into his 15-week Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, “As It Was.” For Styles, singing to sold-out crowds in the country’s biggest and most iconic arenas, it’s clear that nothing is, in his own words, “the same as it was.” His career is also the furthest thing from “done.” In fact, it’s just the beginning for Harry Styles.

See Styles’ full set list below, and check out how to snag tickets for his upcoming Los Angeles shows here.

Daydreaming
Golden
Adore You
Daylight
Keep Driving
Matilda
Little Freak
Satellite
Cinema
Music for a Sushi Restaurant
Treat People With Kindness
What Makes You Beautiful
Late Night Talking
Watermelon Sugar
Love of My Life

Encore:
Sign of the Times
Medicine
As It Was
Kiwi

Rania Aniftos

Billboard