Live Review: Harry Styles @ HBF Park, Perth

By the hordes of avid Harry Styles followers storming through the gates at 5 pm, itching to be as close to the superstar as possible, you wouldn’t be amiss in thinking this could quite possibly be the second coming of Christ himself.  

They, however, would have to groove through the story-telling works of quasi-psychedelic rock and roll enthusiasts Wet Leg. Fresh off winning at the Brit Awards, the band were ready to kick off the Australian leg of Love On Tour with a bang. The dynamic and raunchy rock stars showed exactly why they were the perfect pairing to get the crowd hot and ready for Harry’s smooth stylings with such bangers as the classic Chaise Longue and the sexually charged Wet Dream. 

The air grew still as thousands of Perth punters taken aback by the heartthrobs charming spell grew eager to enter into Harry’s House and hear the first chords of that smooth groove of Music For A Sushi Restaurant. Not too long after the applause that carried Wet Leg off stage did the lights begin to flicker back into motion. Followed by a steadying burst of excitement and chatter, forming into a chorus of screaming, crying, and pure excitement (and that was just from yours truly) as Harry swaggered onto the stage in the most beguiling attire, very true to his last name. 

“How we doing tonight Perth?” Styles croons before diving straight into Golden with the ease and swagger of an Olympian, paired fittingly with Adore You, two hits from his second album, Fine Line. The tour that never was merged with the recent outing Harry’s House into the jam-packed jamboree of Love On Tour after a five year absence from Australia.

Moving swiftly and smoothly across the stage like a gazelle launching into bangers from the soaring highs of the jazz-tinged arena-rock Satellite laced in infectiously hard-hitting drumbeat, to the soulful ballad of Matilda - a real tearjerker of a song. Even harkening back to his One Direction days with the song that put them on the map, What Makes You Beautiful in a more aptly modern rock retelling, as if the song itself were gospel and he a preacher beckoning some rambunctious self-love. 

After a slew of songs from the highly seductive one-two punch of Watermelon Sugar and Late Night Talking, Styles professes the love part of Love On Tour through a darkly sweet serenade Love Of My Life as if biting into a juicy blackberry before the bittersweet farewell he feigns. 

Upon his gracious return to the stage, the star performs his first solo outing single, Sign Of The Times, followed by a soothing tribute to Aussie legend Daryl Braithwaite with the national anthem adjacent Horses sung like a true British man on Australian soil. 

Adding another tick on his bucket list whilst simultaneously encouraging an Aussie tradition of the renowned shoey with now local Perth hero “Scott,” to which not to be upstaged, Styles downs a not as quite heroic, yet hydrating shoey baptism leaving a sopping wet Harry Styles to finally send us off to “do with the rest of our lives whatever we please” flowing into the one-two punch of the inescapable song of 2022 As It Was and the classic Kiwi.

From the kids to the mums dragging their partners “all the way from Sydney”, to the girls in front daringly dressed up in denim there’s something here for everyone. Showing a true testament to the man’s ability to sell out arenas and fill them with songs that can really erupt in their grandeur.   

As the man disappeared with a kiss to a rapture of applause, the final words were left buzzing on the screen:

“Thanks for making Harry’s House a Home”

And what a warm welcome we got!