Before the show began, Kate Beasley, 23, and Lily Mahmoud, 16, began chatting. They both went to the Harry Styles show solo and bonded over their acts of devotion to the former One Direction member. Beasley drove three hours from Oklahoma to see the One Direction member, and Mahmoud traveled an hour and a half to see the man who put out an album she calls "her life."
Styles was dreamy, adorable, charming and everything else young women dream about at his Tuesday night concert at Toyota Music Factory. He told his thousands of fans, some young tweens, some 50-year-olds: "I'm honored to stand and perform in front of a group of strong women. Thank you for having me, Dallas." The crowd swooned.
Styles used to be one-fifth of the megapopular boy band One Direction, which clogged airwaves and little girls' bedroom walls for years. When the group broke up a few years ago, all five men took on solo projects. Styles' was a 10-track self-titled slow rock album.
When you only have 10 songs to your name, it's a bit difficult to headline a show. Styles compensated by spending a lot of time working the crowd in between songs. But it's hard to fault him for trying, and the crowd hung on his every word.
The audience loved it when he did anything unexpected, like talking, changing the notes in his songs or dancing. He also paraded a rainbow flag around onstage.The screams and singing were so loud sometimes that it was difficult to hear Styles. Anytime he changed a note in a song, thousands of women singing the note recorded on the album drowned him out.
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Beasley says she loves that Styles adopted social and political stances. Mahmoud says she's proud of him for finally putting out music that feels authentic.
"If I liked a band and they voted for Donald Trump, I couldn't support them," Mahmoud says.
It took a few songs for Styles to warm up. It's unclear whether it was intentional, but it wasn't until the sixth song on the set list that he moved out from behind the mic stand. But once he did, he went all out, singing to each side of the venue.
Styles danced. He shook his hips. He played the guitar. Along with his 10 solo songs, he performed One Direction's "Story of My Life" and a rockier version of "What Makes You Beautiful," as well as a song he wrote for Ariana Grande.
The screams and singing were so loud sometimes that it was difficult to hear Styles. Anytime he changed a note in a song, thousands of women singing the note recorded on the album drowned him out. When you're at a Harry Styles concert surrounded by thousands of likeminded people, all seeing the love of their life in concert, the overwhelming sense of camaraderie takes over.
But no moment Tuesday night stood out more than when Styles performed "Kiwi." It wasn't exactly surprising; he told the crowd it's his favorite song to perform. After a few false starts, he finally dove right in, belting, "I'm having your baby," while a sea of "strong women" sang it back.
