Let me take you back — flashback style — to the year 2019. Pre-pandemic, simpler times (imagine that). Harry Styles announced ‘Love on Tour’ and my Directioner self was ecstatic. My best friend and I bought *Cherry Pit* tickets to the Orlando show and tickets to HARRYWEEN in NYC and we were constantly pinching ourselves in disbelief and excitement. Fast forward to the infamous year of 2020, when our annoying cousin COVID decided to grace us with its presence, causing the tour to be postponed until 2021. We were constantly stalking Twitter waiting for updates and then the moment came. Harry announced that the tour was indeed going to happen and while I was fearful, I immediately started buying my outfits inspired by my almost 3-year-old Pinterest board and had his albums on repeat.
A few weeks have passed since the long-awaited Orlando show and I am still reminiscing about moments during the show. So without further ado, here’s a detailed memoir of my first Harry Styles concert experience.
Camping out
Nervous about how the Amway Center was going to handle the pit ticket holders’ line and how Florida fans would behave, my friends and I decided to arrive at 5 a.m. at the venue. Was it a rookie mistake? Yes. Fans had lined up as early as 2 a.m. to get a good spot at the show and had a number system implemented in which a girl wrote your number spot on your hand with a Sharpie. Simple but effective. We placed numbers 120 through 124 and couldn’t believe how good of a spot we had gotten already. And so, we sat there with our Dunkin’ coffees and chatted it up with the girls around us. From talking with a TikTok famous girl to meeting people from all over Florida, it was surreal to get to know so many different people who shared a common interest. At 7 a.m., Amway staff started giving us wristbands and moving us to a red ant-infested field to wait until 6 p.m. It was hot, humid and chaotic but I enjoyed every minute of it. A group of about 40 people cut everyone in line and someone started a petition, we were all laying on the grass with no shade getting eaten alive by ants, and having to hunt for water. At 12 p.m. we couldn’t handle the heat anymore and our new friends in line gracefully offered to save our spots so we could get ready and so that’s what we did.
Getting Ready
Sparkly trousers, feather boas and face gems were all factors in our looks. We went all out and I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone. Anyone who is on TikTok knows just how much of a fashion show HSLOT really is, so making sure we looked our best was crucial to us — I felt like I was getting ready for the Met Gala. In the end, we got ready quickly and I had never felt so confident. That’s the beauty of Harry Styles’ concerts. He has made a safe environment where you can dress the way you’ve been too afraid to normally and feel no judgment.
The Pit
Getting back to the waiting area in our outfits felt surreal, going from wearing pj’s to full-blown night-out outfits and seeing how the people around us transformed was crazy. And of course, in true Florida fashion, it poured on us while waiting to finally get in. That didn’t stop my friends and I though, so when we got in we scanned our tickets, held our arms up to show off our wristbands and bolted to find a good spot. The Harry Gods were on my side because I was able to stand one person away from the barricade and I couldn’t believe it, I even FaceTimed my mom to show her and she proceeded to freak out for me.
The Show
It was exactly like how I dreamed it would be and more. Finally hearing the songs I had been listening, vibing and crying to was a dream come true. I couldn’t believe it was real. Harry Styles is a real person. And while I sound absolutely ridiculous, seeing him live so up close was insane. We made eye contact several times throughout the show and I still think about it to this day and freak out. I wholeheartedly can say the experience was worth the long-ass wait and I enjoyed every. single. moment. Hearing him sing “we’ll be alright” after the year we’ve all endured was something I needed to hear and was surprisingly a healing moment.
All in all, thank you to Harry Styles and his team for the amazing show. Now, Harryween awaits!