Harry Styles opened the first night of his record-breaking 12-gig run at Wembley Stadium by reminiscing about his audition for The X Factor, 16 years ago.
"Just outside of this building, just next door in Wembley Arena, my sister brought me to London for the very first time," said the 32-year-old, who was born in Redditch and raised in Cheshire. "It was… in that building that I was put in a band. We were called One Direction," he recalled, prompting screams from a sold-out crowd of 80,000 fans.
“Harry Styles opened his record-breaking 12-night Wembley residency, recalling his X Factor audition that formed One Direction.”
His sister was present that night. "My sister is here tonight," he added. "I want to thank her. I love you and I appreciate you." Later, Styles also thanked his mother, Anne, who secretly signed him up for The X Factor when he was just 16. "I wouldn't be here today if she hadn't done that," he said. "I thank you so, so much."
Back in 2010, Styles' audition consisted of two songs: Train's Hey Soul Sister and Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely - earning him a space in One Direction. Prior to that, the first song he ever recorded was Elvis Presley's The Girl of My Best Friend. Appropriately, his walk-on music at Wembley was also an Elvis track - his cover of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Styles is the first artist to play 12 nights at Wembley Stadium in a single year – nearly as many nights as Oasis and Taylor Swift managed between them, according to i Newspaper. The show brought his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, to life. With a band that included brass, strings and a choir, tracks sounded harder and fuller. The lead track, Aperture, typified it, managing to negate the album's problems – the fact it's nicely done but never takes off like you want it to – with the trite lyrics making more sense when 90,000 people are singing it back.
Styles had Wembley in the palm of his hand within seconds of strutting onstage. He looked vaguely Teddy Boyish – pinstripe jacket, light blue shirt, black trousers two three inches too short to show off his white socks – and was soon swivelling his hips, commanding the stage with charisma. A sign from a fan from Sunderland caught his attention. "We have some hard-hitting journalism down here," he observed. "Ella's sign says, 'What's your favourite type of egg?' Um... I like a fried egg. Followed closely with a scramble."
Those moments of connection are the backbone of Styles' show. There's a focus on community and the euphoria of - in his own words - "dancing together, sweating together and singing together". On stage, there is camaraderie between the musicians, who interact playfully with their frontman. The tour is titled Together Together. With a huge rectangular runway with a cross section in the middle, Styles worked every inch to give all corners of Wembley a close-up of their idol. The four-song set on the "X" stage – the centre point – was brilliant, turning his LCD Soundsystem influence to the max, his band huddled close to produce fantastic rhythmical dance music in the hyper Ready, Steady, Go!
Styles has a lot in common with the King of Rock and Roll: from his chiselled good looks to the particular way he wiggles his hips. At Wembley, those qualities - combined with armour-plated pop smashes like As It Was and Watermelon Sugar - had the audience spellbound. They arrived in sequins and feather boas; or sometimes in waistcoats and ties. They held paper hearts aloft during Fine Line, and painted red lips on their necks, in reference to the star's latest album. Hand-painted signs declared "Welcome home" and "Can I be your intern this summer?"
Styles can elicit screams just by adjusting his position. But he said little beyond empty platitudes and espousing community. He had to do very little to elicit a deafening scream. The former One Direction star has certainly avoided the former boyband member curse.