Harry Styles Stuns With Orchestra Show at London Meltdown Fest: Review

Harry Styles took a break from his record-smashing run at London’s Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night to do something the pop star has never done before: perform with a full orchestra.

From the start, the one-off show seemed quite the opposite from Styles’ current modus operandi: his latest album “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” saw him lean into dance-pop and synthesizers, and Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall is about 50 times smaller than Wembley with just 2,000 seats. But as the curator of this year’s Meltdown Festival, Styles took the opportunity to completely reimagine his music with conductor Jules Buckley and his 50-piece orchestra — and the result left fans awestruck.

After the orchestra shuffled in and Styles took a seat at a piano near center stage, looking smart in a floral collared shirt and slacks, the crowd predictably went nuts. But a hush soon fell over the audience as the realization set in that no one knew what was about to happen — there was no previous setlist to go off of, no indication as to how his songs would be arranged or how many he would even sing. As the orchestra began to play, it was at first difficult to recognize which song it was since it sounded so different, but then Styles sang the first word: “Boyfriends.”

Set against a flurry of strings — cellos, violins and even a harp — Styles’ voice became ethereal, and already it was clear that fans were in for a real treat. Without the strain of commanding a stadium full of nearly 100,000 people, it was Styles at his most musically vulnerable. No one has ever seen — or, perhaps more accurately, heard — him like this before. And he sounded, arguably, the best he ever has.

“It feels both present and incredibly not present to be so aware that you’re in the middle of your career highlight,” Styles said after taking to the piano to play “Paint by Numbers” from his latest album. “This is an incredibly special month and 10 days here at Southbank Centre. Thank you for being here.”

Though he has a small string section with him on his “Together Together” tour, putting his songs against the backdrop of a full orchestra, complete with a gospel choir, gave them an almost cinematic feel. “Matilda” sounded straight from a film score, fit for a sweeping finale montage where the girl finally decides to choose herself; and “Fine Line,” for which Styles strummed the guitar, came to an even more grandiose ending than on his 2019 album of the same name. “Probably should have finished with that one,” Styles quipped after taking in the rapturous applause that followed.

Despite having just released a new body of work, Styles was unafraid to revisit his back catalogue, delivering a set that felt like a measured representation of his career thus far. But perhaps no one was expecting him to play “Two Ghosts,” from his 2017 self-titled debut record, which became evident when basically the entire room gasped as its beginning notes rang out. Indeed, it marked the first time Styles had played the track live since 2020, and the added layer of an orchestral version was enough to bring some audience members to tears.