Harry Styles fans wait eagerly in feathers and colour outside Mt Smart, some cueing from 10pm the previous night. Video / NZ Herald
The lines outside Mt Smart Stadium, the countless feather boas and the sparkly costumes were all signs of the times – Harry Styles was back in Auckland.
The former One Direction star hadn’t performed here since 2017 and following his antics at his shows in Australia last week, there was just one question on all of our minds.
What piece of Kiwiana would Harry bring to the show? Would he don a Bunnings hat, do a shoey as he had in Australia, or take part in New Zealand’s national census on stage?
Harry Styles in concert at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo / Georgia Versey
Last night, he answered all those questions - and won Kiwis’ hearts in more ways than one.
Kiwi fans have been preparing for this moment for years, planning their sparkliest, most colourful outfits and hoping to get a glimpse of the star up close.
When he finally took to the stage they absolutely lost their minds as he launched straight into his hit Music for a Sushi Restaurant from his latest album Harry’s House.
“We’re gonna have some fun tonight New Zealand!” he shouted, addressing the crowds with his trademark smirk.
Styles confirmed what we all wanted to know - had he done the NZ Census? Photo / Georgia Versey
“Good evening, people of Auckland ... and surrounding areas. It’s a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for choosing to spend your evening with us.
“Did everyone do the census thing?” the pop star asked the crowds early on in the show. “I’ve done it! I think. No, I have done it. I’ve been told we all have to be accounted for. We’ll have to stop the show if you haven’t done it.”
Styles also addressed the crowd in te reo Māori more than once, singing Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi, as the crowd erupted into the well-known waiata.
He then treated us to highlights from his three studio albums, from Golden to Adore You to Woman, with fans shouting the words to every song. Hits like Treat People With Kindness and Cinema turned Mt Smart into the city’s biggest dance party.
But if you’re like me and you’re hanging out for a One Direction reunion one day, then the moment he sang the words of What Makes You Beautiful was really what you came for.
He fittingly closed the show with his 2017 hit Kiwi from his debut album, cheekily introducing it by saying, “You should know this next one! It’s named after you.”
“How often do I get to sing Kiwi with a bunch of Kiwis?” he paused halfway through the song to yell amid thunderous applause.
“Thank you for having us in your beautiful country ... I love you so much.”
There’s something about a Harry Styles concert that you simply don’t get with any other artist. It’s not that all eyes weren’t on the tattooed, curly-haired heartthrob as he danced his way across the stage, but it was hard not to get distracted by the crowds themselves, decked out in sequins, glitter, cowboy hats and feather boas.
Styles is famous for the way he interacts with crowds at his shows, and last night was no different as he bantered with fans and pointed out several of their signs bearing messages from “sold our cat’s leg to be here” to “bestie going through a break-up”.
The atmosphere was a far cry from the stadium’s last attempt to host a major international act, when Sir Elton John’s January 27 show was cancelled at the last minute and concertgoers were evacuated amid rising floodwaters.
