Harry Styles @ Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, 11 Jun

Harry Styles doesn't disappoint in the first stadium concert of his solo career

Live Review by Tara Hepburn | 15 Jun 2022
  • Harry Styles live at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, 11 Jun

The streets around Ibrox Stadium are littered with colourful feathers and discarded hard seltzer cans. Guys selling scarves and flags are typical in these parts, but the options are different on this particular Saturday. “Rainbow flags, get your rainbow flags here” one man shouts, as a predominantly female crowd – a dopamine rush in psychedelic flares, feather boas and cowboy hats – file past. Harry Styles is in town, and it shows.

Japanese-American singer-songwriter Mitski performs a short support slot – a captivating mix of synth-y tracks from her latest record Laurel Hell and old favourites from her ten-year career. Her unique brand of indie melancholia wins her a few new fans but is largely lost on an audience radiating Harry Styles fever. Even closing with the infectious Stay Soft fails to muster a cheer louder than the one a roadie gets minutes later for simply removing tarpaulin from the Harry Styles drumkit.

Still, it’s a mark of how seriously Harry Styles takes things that he’d choose someone with Mitski’s presence and artistry to join him on the road.

'Love On Tour' was originally scheduled for early 2020, but Scotland wasn’t part of the picture. It wasn’t until a third reschedule that a Glasgow date materialised – happily at the start of Styles’ UK dates. “This is my first stadium,” he announces to the crowd early on in his blistering set, “and I’m going to let you in on a secret – I like it.” The stadium environment likes him too. Melodic singalongs like Golden, Sign of the Times and As It Was were made for spaces like this.


Image: Harry Styles live at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, 11 Jun by Anthony Pham

Harry Styles too fills the space with masterful ease, skipping and dancing along a catwalk that cuts into the main body of the crowd. A vision in a glittery Gucci two-piece, no-one has ever looked better than this. As a popstar, Styles is aware of his charms and generous with them, pausing to flirt with the crowd – point out their hand-crafted signs, wave at their cameras, give them something to talk about for the rest of their life. 

Now three albums into his solo career, Styles has more than enough material for a killer setlist. New tracks from his most recent album Harry’s House – released just over three weeks ago – are already firm favourites with the fans, who scream along to every word. Songs like Daylight and Love of My Life flourish in the open air, with 50,000 voices at sunset.

Even during quieter moments in the set, such as the Matilda, Boyfriends, Fine Line triple homicide of thoughtful bangers, Styles has the audience in the palm of his hand. People are crying. 

Harry Styles is a confident performer who is not afraid to give the people what they want: dance breaks, a story about Percy Pigs, a joyful performance of One Direction’s debut What Makes You Beautiful; giddy feel-good anthem Treat People With Kindness inspires two separate conga lines snaking around the pitch.

When a fan in the front row reveals it to be her 23rd birthday, Styles leads the crowd in a stadium-wide chorus of Happy Birthday. TikTok detectives the following morning questioned why she was wearing a Virgo necklace if her birthday really is in June. Look, who cares? Who knows what any one of us might claim under the glare of Harry Styles' eye contact? 'Love On Tour' is a slice of sunshine, a carnival ride, and the truth is – it really did feel like everyone’s birthday.