Somebody found a new Rock God!!!! It’s me! I did! And it’s Harry frickin Styles!

Oh Harry . What an unbelievably phenomenal artist and performer you are!

I mean, I know pretty much the whole world knew this already, but please forgive me, I’m new -ish to this particular musical obsession. I’ve only been incredibly and completely whacked over the head with this knowledge a year ago.

Well – I don’t know – maybe there were subtle (like bricks) hints before that – I mean, I’ve heard various songs on the radio from his solo career and One Direction and I liked them, loved them. But it stayed there. Until Harry’s House.

I know of people who love Harry like they love U2, like I love U2 – that depth of devotion and multiple concert-going-ness. And so when Harry’s House popped up on my Spotify last year, I thought – ok, let’s see what the fuss is all about.

I was instantly imbued with the fuss. I was hooked from the very first notes of Music for a Sushi Restaurant. Captured by that bassy-funk undertone and held raptured to the last notes of the sublime Love of my Life.

This is gooooood! This is blowing my mind how much I love this album!

And then Spotify and Harry took absolute control of my life when it continued the playlist into Adore You – I know this song! I LOOOOVE this song! Then Falling, then Watermelon Sugar. Then, well, basically all of Fine Line and his eponymous first album.

And I’m in. I’m so deeply in.

These three albums are soooooo good. They are musical perfection. Sign of the Times, come on! the consummate anthem rock. Satellite – just wow – the soundscapes, the lyrics. Boyfriends… I feel it every. time. It’s just all such beautiful music.

And I knew instantly, instinctually, incorrigibly, I would need to see Harry in concert. This level of single-mindedness will accept nothing less. This is something I will travel too. It must be done.

There’s just something about some concerts that demand you see them, and sometimes that something is Harry frickin’ Styles.

So I looked for tickets. And I looked and I looked. And I looked again. But allll the shows were sold out. Everywhere. Because you all already knew what I just figured out.

I kept looking in case tickets dropped. But nothing, nowhere.

Until.

The tweet that changed my definition of ecstatic joy. Not just more Harry Styles announced, but Harry frickin Styles to play Slane frickin Castle in June 2023!

And what!?!? Inhaler, another favourite band, and oh yah, the lead singer is Bono’s son!, to open for him.

Ok. Ok. I’m calm. It’s fine. Everything is fine.

I’M NOT CALM!

You have no idea the significance of this for me. Sure, Slane is one of THOSE events you just have to go see. Especially if it’s an artist you love. But even if not, it’s renowned as an extraordinary experience.

In my mind it not only rivals, it surpasses the likes of Coachella and Glastonbury (not that I wouldn’t go to these festivals if given the opportunity, and enjoy every second of it!).

Those festivals are festivals in that pure Woodstock sense – multiple days, multiple stages, never-ending music, decisions to make on which to see. They are beautiful, once in a lifetime lineups and the ultimate music experience, but overwhelming and constant – no chance to stop and soak the experience in as it happens, especially if one of your most loved artists is playing.

Slane is one day, one stage, one headliner and a few supporting acts. You can devote yourself to this event. You can breathe it in.

And Slane is a stunning locale in Ireland. Ireland, my heart. My favourite place in the world. And this festival is held on the castle grounds – that’s right, there’s a freakin castle. Stage just there, castle to your right.

If given the choice between seeing Harry Styles at Coachella or at Slane, the choice of U2 at Glastonbury or Slane, I will always, always choose Slane. (Unless Harry is playing one day and U2 the next, then I choose that festival :P)

But the true significance for me of Slane concerts – the short story -is, I missed seeing U2 at Slane in 2001. I was in Dublin at the time – (my first trip ever to Ireland, first trip ever overseas) I purposefully flew there during those dates even though I didn’t have a ticket to the show. U2 are my heart, Ireland is my heart – I had to go! I had to try. Maybe I’d find a ticket once there, right?!

Wrong. No ticket. No show for me. The day after the show, people were talking about it in my hostel and when I told my story, someone said “oh too bad we didn’t know you yesterday, we had an extra ticket and it went unused!” sigh…

Seeing Harry and Inhaler twenty years later at Slane felt like it would be a perfect closure to that story. Finally experiencing Slane. Finally seeing Harry for the first time. Finally seeing Inhaler for the first time.

And the U2 connection is a lovely touch, maybe Bono would even be there to see his son play. Maybe I would be on that musical hallowed ground at the same time as all these loves of mine. I had to go!

And this time, I got the tickets. My sister, our friend, and I were going to Slane!!

And, well, there are some concerts that demand you see them more than once. Instinctually, incorrigibly, inevitably, I knew I’d want, no NEED, to see more than one.

And so I also got tickets to Wembley 2…

Slane Castle June 10, 2023

Ah what a day! what a show!

It began with a bus ride from Custom House in Dublin to a field near the event grounds. Well, by near I mean it was closer than Dublin was, lol. Once you get off the bus there is a long hike (about 30 minutes or so) through the field and through a tree covered foresty type pathway to the gate.

The event organizers and Ticketmaster were really good about sending tons of emails with information via youtube videos and info-sheets on how to arrange transportation and what to expect for the day, and they were not wrong about the long walk!

By the way, if you go in future years, I highly recommend taking the busses that are organized for the event. Busses get priority in coming and going, and drop attendants off and pick you up closer to the concert grounds than the parking lots. Our pick up point was Custom House in Dublin, but there were other options, and it cost 40 euro each for the round trip.

Our bus was a double decker city bus, packed full of people dressed in all sorts of Harry-inspired outfits – pink cowboy hats adorned with bling and/or boa fuzz, sequins and sparkly everything, heart-shaped sunglasses, H.S. on jean back pockets, and of course boas of every colour everywhere!

There were so many boas, the streets of Dublin and Slane, the field, and castle grounds were covered in loose feathers. It became our mantra when we weren’t sure where to go – just follow the boa feathers!

Once we hiked through the foresty part, we came up to the crowd of people in line waiting for the gates to open and sat on the pathway for an hour or so.

Somewhere along the way there were a couple of security check points and while the emails and information said no backpacks were allowed, apparently this meant just the big, school sized ones – plenty of people had small backpacks. Which is good to know, because you really do need to bring multiple things for a festival day! Sunscreen and a raincoat at the very least for Ireland in the summer!

(Also definitely wear comfy walking shoes – that hike is long and through a field with uneven ground. not to mention the hours of standing, dancing, waiting in lines for food, toilets, merch, etc.)

When you walk into the actual grounds, it is quite the sight and site to behold. The grounds for the show are vast, outlined with concession stands to the left, the right, and the back. The stage is at the very bottom, the castle literally on a hill (small hill, but a hill nonetheless) to the right. And green everywhere else. Green grassy hill sloping down in a natural amphitheatre, a backdrop of trees behind the stage.

The show began with an uproarious applause and screams as the first opener was Mitch Rowland (Harry’s guitarist), with Sarah Jones (Harry’s drummer). They rocked the grounds completely and left us eager for more.

Annie Mac kept us up and dancing.

Wet Leg carried us further into the late afternoon. They were super impressive. Rhian Teasdale’s voice, while super cute in Wet Dream, is actual quite the operatic range and power! She blew our minds when she belted out the aria-esque bridge (I think that’s considered a bridge) in Obvious, not to mention the primal screaming…

And then Inhaler took the stage. Seeing them at Slane, on their home turf – they were magnificent! Tight playing; great voices; beautiful, catchy songs; incredible stage energy. What’s not to love.

And yes, as it turns out, Bono and his wife, Ali, were there to see their son play this momentous show. Proud parents for sure!

And then.

Harry frickin Styles

Harry Harry Harry

There are some artists who just have it. And Harry has it. Yes, he can sing, yes, he writes a great song, but this human belongs on stage. He is living his best life on that stage and brings everyone in the audience along for the ride! That ability to be your unencumbered self is a true gift, but to do it in front of 85,000 people every night. Well, it’s part of the gravity that is Harry.

He is electric on stage. The running, jumping up flights of stairs.

The wild dancing, the Satellite stomping, singing with his whole body in everything, but especially in Sign of the Times. Whooosh, Pure energy. Bottle that up and sell it at the merch stands!!

Of course the outfits help. I love his style, (a ha ha, style… get it?!?! Harry Styles. style…. I kill me sometimes…). I love the sequins, the hearts, the fruit, the boas, the jumpsuits, the flash. I love the dresses, the ballet costume. I love the tshirts and leather pants. I love it all, and the plethora of people in the audience dressed in clear inspiration, down to patchwork sweaters and the ‘workperson coveralls’ Harry’s band wears each show, leave no doubt that this here is a trend setter, a style icon (a ha, I did it again…)

But more than that, in these outfits and everything he does onstage Harry portrays an unabashedly Harry-ness, and he visually and verbally creates a safe place each night for all in attendance to be our true selves as well.

This is the power of Harry. Harry just makes the world a better place by being himself in it. But he uses his platform to exponentiate that love and acceptance of unique selves.

There are some concerts you want to see because the music is killer; the stage, out of this world; the pyrotechnics, explosive. And there are some you want to see because the artist brings all this, but more so a space for you to feel safe and a valued part of community.

This is Harry’s power. Harry gallops around his stage with Pride, Bi and any type of LGTBQIA2S+ flags from the audience. He adorns himself with the heart glasses, boas, hats, and other objects fans throw his way (and that he catches with Spiderman-like reflexes).

He devotes sections of his show to read the signs fans bring, many of which ask him to help the fan come out to their friends/family. Harry takes the care to double check they really want to do this – there are, after all, 80,000 other people in the room and phone cameras videotaping for all of social media to see. And if they agree, he reads their sign out loud and makes the moment noted and special, and 80,000 people celebrate and send that person cheer, love, and support. It’s amazing. I have goosebumps just thinking about it.

(Sometimes, like at Wembley 2, the signs ask for a Gender reveal :D).

And then there’s the music. Because, you know, at the heart of this, it’s a concert. So I should probably talk about the music.

I mean, it’s Harry frickin Styles! It’s a set list of a few One Direction songs I now also love, and a whole lot of songs from these three albums I can’t stop listening to. And it’s live! Live, out in a field with a castle to the right and a forest behind.

He comes on stage to Daydreaming with the horns and the whole thing and lifts us off the ground. And I’m telling, you – I’ve been to stadium shows with 80,000+ people singing, yelling, it’s LOUD. It’s powerful. It’s an incredible influx of positive joyous energy.

But nothing, nothing can prepare you for the sound and adrenaline of 85,000 Harry fans screaming full force. That’s a whole lot of love in the world flowing through the audience. It is intense in the best way possible. An inundation of positivity shivering to your bones at the highest decibels (so said my watch countless times)!

He continues with Golden and then Adore You. There’s a moment during this song where we, the audience, are singing at the top of our lungs “JUST LET ME ADORE YOU!” and Harry stops, hand on hip and says back to us, “Okaaaay!”

And doesn’t that just epitomize the concert relationship. We are absolutely, fully, and completely there to adore him. And at the same time, there are those artists who just send that love and adoration right back to their fans, and that’s Harry.

This setlist is a constant bombardment of favourite song after favourite song and each time a new one starts, I’m screaming with those 84,999 others because this is just so good.

But I am stunned, jaw dropping to the rain-wet ground, floored when Harry begins Fine Line.

Already one of my favourites, but this version. My (rock) God! Slowed down, soulful, it is gorgeous. And it begins with Harry asking us to bring out the phones to light up the night and the visual matches the sonic. Stunning, a sea of stars. This moment is unforgettable, in an already ineffaceable night.

And then there is Sign of the Times. This song was meant for stadiums. First time I played this in the car with my sister, she was like, wow, this song must be incredible live. And it is. Like I mentioned above, Harry sings this song with his whole body. Leaning into the mic stand, into the words.

This song is poignant and every word moves you (and him). And he caps it off with fireworks. I get chills during this song in my living room – live, it is everything.

But just in case you think those fireworks signal the end of the night, they did not. There was still the encore of fan favourite Medicine, the far too many records broken to mention them all As It Was (with the amusing, ear shattering, almost contest to see which venue can scream the loudest, yelling of the lyric LEAVE AMERICA). And Kiwi.

And so much in between. Harry is magic. This night, a dream concert.

And then began the hours of journey back to Dublin. That 30 min walk is now directed through the event grounds, through the town, over the river, up a hill, through the field, back to the bus. And 85,000 people euphoric from concert wizardry do not move quickly. That 30 mins now takes well over an hour, maybe two.

Luckily, the event staff have the organization down pat. The stewards directing everyone to their proper exits are up on stands above us and are talking calmly and patiently: Green exit is here, move slowly and care for each other. No need to run, you are all going to the same place and the busses won’t leave without you,” etc. It was brilliant. We even applauded our guy because he was so good and kind and full of humour.

I told my sister before our trip that while we had tickets to Wembley night 2, we would be in London for the first show too and I would likely try to get tickets with or with out her, because I know me. After Slane, somewhere on the way back, we looked at each other knowingly and she said “We have to get tickets to Wembley 1, don’t we?”

Yes, we do. We absolutely do. One more show is not going to be enough.

And we did.

Wembley 1 and 2 – June 13 and 14, 2023

As luck would have it, Ticketmaster dropped a ton of ‘obstructed view’ tickets to Wembley 1 the very next day.

We knew obstructed meant these were the side of the stage facing the very large screens and so we wouldn’t be able to see real Harry and the band while they were on the main stage – but we would see the very large screen and would see them when they were on the b stage. We debated a tiny bit on whether we should do it and ultimately agreed, these tickets were a great price (50 – 75 pounds) to just get in the room (where it happens – sorry… Hamilton shout out!), and it would be interesting to experience the show from a different angle, considering our Wembley 2 tickets were close to the stage on stage right. So Stage left, obstructed views it was!

And if you are considering these tickets for Harry’s Love on Tour, in our experience, they are well worth it for what they are. They are obstructed in that sense of blocking the actual main stage, but the screen is super close and super clear, and Harry in particular, but the band too, do spend a lot of time on the b stage. Also from this view you can see almost the whole audience reacting to the show. We saw the line dancing during TPWK, the wave, the sea of lights in different colours. We didn’t see, and didn’t even realise they happened, the fireworks. But still, totally worth the price we paid…

And wow this blog is so long already. I’m just going to say Wembley clearly moved Harry. At both nights, he was visibly touched by being in his ‘home’ city, by the love from the audience, and having friends and family there to support him.

It was pretty special to be at Wembley for us too, for 2 of the 4 nights. This is another bucket-list stadium. The home of Live Aid, (which Harry honoured at Wembley 1 with a rendition of Freddie Mercury’s ‘Ay-oh’ call backs with us), and where my sis and I saw U2’s 360 tour in 2009.

For Wembley 2, we were in the first bowl a few sections down from the stage. And yah, the obstructed seats were worth their price, but damn, it’s nice to see the show from the front of it 😀

Going to multiple shows really does let you see multiple angles and catch things you may miss if you only go to one show. People often look at me like I’m insane when I say I’ve seen or am going to see more than one of the same tour. But I’ve said it before, not only do you get multiple views, you get different audiences, different energies, etc. And a whole lot of joy!

I know I went on and on about Harry Styles’ style above, but the heart jumpsuits have to be mentioned here – he wore a variation of the heart jumpsuits/overalls for each of the four Wembley nights – night 1 was white with red hearts, 2 was black with orange and silver (3 was purple and 4 was black with either pink or red – hard to tell in the photos – looks like red in one photo, pink in others :P). I think I overheard people talking about these outfits honouring the outfit he wore at Wembley the first time he played it, but I’m too tired to look that up to confirm 😛

The set list didn’t change much between Slane and the two Wembleys we saw, but this is never a problem for me. If you go to multiple shows, you have to expect the shows to not change much. But we did get Stockholm Syndrome of One Direction at Wembley 2 in place of Daylight the other nights; Medicine at Slane and Wembley 1; Love of my Life at W2 instead of Little Freak.

Other favourite moments:

• Madi Diaz, from Harry’s band, opened Wembley 1; and Coy Panda – Elin and Juan Ariza (both also of Harry’s band)’s band opened for Wembley 2. I love and respect so much that Harry shares this platform with his band. That’s pretty incredible to introduce your fans to the original music of your band, and to introduce your band to this experience in a way outside of just being in your band.

• Wet Leg also opened both shows. Loving them.

• The way Harry stops everything if he sees a fans in distress and makes sure they are ok and getting help if needed before carrying on.
• Trying to catch the Whale on camera, failing miserably and missing it altogether all 3 nights 😛
• He really does catch things magically – they just appear in his hands, but then so many other things comically get missed
• The level of care so many many fans put in to dressing up in Harry-esque outfits. These concerts were half concert, half audience fashion show – you all looked so incredible!
• Wembley 2 when Harry says, yah so when we pretend to end the show but we all know there’s an encore – I try this all the time and it never ever works – but maybe tonight you can do it. When we get off the stage, fill this place with all the love – You know the song All you Need Is Love by the Beatles – This half of the audience – you sing “All you need is love.” This side, you sing “do do do do do”, then everyone sing All you need is love, love, love is all you need. And took us through a couple rounds of practice. It didn’t work. We tried. but it didn’t work.
• Harry raising and lowering his left and right arms at slow and fast intervals to conduct the crowd screaming.
• The fireworks
• The Harry dances
• The music. always the music.

Sometimes there are just some concerts that you must see multiple shows. Its just mandatory for your soul. Sometimes, it’s just that it’s Harry Styles.

Harry frickin Styles.