Grammy award-winning musician Harry Styles left his mark on Los Angeles and Palm Springs at the start of 2023 with a landslide of events for fans to witness. Styles’ fans experienced the completion of “Love On Tour” in North America, birthday celebrations in Palm Springs and eventful Grammy ceremonies.
After the release of “Harry’s House” in May of 2022, Styles announced that he would host residency shows in North America. Styles played a total of forty-two sold out shows: two nights at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, five nights at the Moody Center in Austin, five nights at the United Center in Chicago, fifteen nights at Madison Square Garden in New York and fifteen nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
RESCHEDULING
While the shows at the Kia Forum were originally scheduled to take place between Oct. 23 to Nov. 15, three shows were rescheduled due to band illness. The shows on Nov. 5, 6 and 7, 2022 were postponed until Jan. 26, 27 and 29, 2023.
In an Instagram announcement, Styles said, “Towards the end of the show on Wednesday [Nov. 2], I started feeling ill and I’ve been in bed with the flu ever since. I’ve been doing everything I can to be able to sing tonight, but I’m leaving the doctor now and I’m devastated that it’s just not possible.”
In the announcement Styles also said, “Until very recently I haven’t had to postpone a show due to illness in the 12 years I’ve been touring. I’m so sorry to do it, and if there was any way I could do the show I would.”
Despite disappointment from fans, many said that they grew to be more appreciative of the opportunity to see Styles perform live — even if it meant they had to wait longer. Sophomore journalism major Allison Crawford explained that she could not attend the concert on the day to which it was moved because of a time conflict with water polo games. This meant she had to sell her original ticket and find another time to see the artist. Fortunately, Crawford ended up seeing Styles on Jan. 29 with general admission tickets.
“I remember realizing I had water polo games the day my concert was supposed to happen and that was definitely [upsetting] and it took me about a week before I sold my ticket finally because I was in denial,” Crawford said. “I think I became more appreciative about it. Being able to see him was so unreal because there were so many things I had to go through. Not [being] able to see him and then having this chance to go … I don’t know, it was just incredible. It was groundbreaking.”
KIA FORUM IN LOS ANGELES
It may have been disappointing to have had to wait longer for the artist, but the three rescheduled days were full of many memorable moments for Styles’ fans and left many people in awe of the performances he had. Grace Morales, senior journalism student, stated that with this being her first concert, she was more than impressed with Styles’ performance.
“Something super memorable I guess is when he acknowledged the fact that the concerts were rescheduled. He was like, ‘I’m so sorry, but thank you for your patience.’ I [thought that was] super sick,” said Morales. “Most people don’t have to apologize for being sick and not showing up to work. But he had to apologize to an arena full of thousands of people, which is insane to me.”
For the first portion of the Los Angeles tour, Ben Harper joined Styles; however, fans were excited to learn that Wet Leg would be joining Styles for the second portion of the tour. Many fans were familiar with Wet Leg due to Styles’ cover of their song “Wet Dream” shortly after the release of his album in May 2022 on BBC 1 Radio. In honor of the remarkable achievement Styles made at the Kia Forum, a banner was placed in the rafters in his honor on the final show at Kia Forum.
ACRISURE ARENA IN PALM SPRINGS
Due to the eccentric nature of Styles’ performances, fans were eager to purchase tickets as Styles announced another set of shows at Southern California’s newest venue in Greater Palm Springs, Acrisure Arena. As the arena opened in December 2022, they jumped at the opportunity to host an additional two shows in celebration for Styles’ birthday.
Styles jokingly said in the show, “Obviously, I have a fear of people not coming to my birthday party. So, I just thought I would do a show and maybe you might come.”
GRAMMY AWARDS
After nights filled with feather boas and dazzling outfits, Styles managed to make his second Grammy appearance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards with a total of six nominations. Styles’ immense influence within the music industry was evident as he won two Grammy Awards for “Album of the Year” and “Best Pop Vocal Album.” Shortly after, controversy sparked over who should have won for “Album of the Year” and his low-energy performance of “As It Was.”
Styles’ performed 5 out of the 10 nights prior to his Grammys performance and there was an on-stage malfunction as the stage turned in a backwards rotation during the dance number. During his acceptance speech, Styles also praised each of the other artists nominated for the award.
“I’ve been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me at a lot of different times in my life,” Styles said. “I think – like on nights like tonight – it’s obviously so important for us to remember that there is no such thing as best in music.”
After his success as a solo artist, fans are eager to hear what is next for Styles and continue to support him in his journey.
“I think it’s really personal how he understands that we’re not just fans but we’re also just people who support him and have grown around his [fandom],” said Crawford. “Every single time I see him, I feel warm because I know that he is not just someone who’s just singing trying to get money from us. He might also be doing that, but I don’t know, he just seems like a genuine person which is really nice to finally see.”
