Harry Styles Love on Tour

By Maddie Seren

Growing up every year, about twice a year, my family and I would make an eight hour drive to Pennsylvania to visit family. At this time in my life we traveled in style, a minivan! The playlist consisted of my parent’s CD’s, they would take requests occasionally, but it mostly was whatever they wanted to hear. Every time it was the same artists without fail; U2, Beastie Boys, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, and Fergie. It was an odd mix, but I quickly learned to know almost every word. As much as I grew to appreciate my parents’ music, I knew it was never going to be anything I would listen to on my own. 

Around 2012, like most young girls my age, I fell victim to the “One Direction Infection”. Me and my best friend Lillie were the biggest fans around, and I have her older cousins to thank. I have vivid memories of us playing their music videos on my families’ computer and we would watch on repeat to try and copy their exact moves. We loved it, we were young and excited over a boy band. It was fun! I begged and begged my mom for concert tickets. I quite literally would have done anything to see my favorite band in the world in front of my eyes, in the same room as me, breathing the same air. Unfortunately my mom had to break my little heart and tell me the tickets were too expensive and that we could not go. This was a scenario that played on repeat in my mind for many years. To break my heart even more, the band broke up in 2015. I had lost all hope of ever seeing them live.

Fast forward to 2019, all five of the boys have pursued solo careers post break up. Harry Styles has just released his second album, Fine Line, and tour dates have dropped. My heart dropped and I knew what I needed to do. I was going to get those tickets, I was going to be at the concert, and I was going to be watching one fifth of my childhood perform live in front of me. The day finally came around, after the show was postponed due to covid. On October 12th, 2021, my friends and I got out of school early to drive three hours to Raleigh, NC. Words could not describe the anticipation we were feeling in the car. At the hotel, I couldn’t even keep my food down, because I knew in a few short hours my idol would be singing to me. The traffic and the lines to get in only added to my anxiety. I could not believe this day was finally here. We were ushered to our seats and my jaw dropped at how close we were to the stage. Chills, tears, laughter, screams, pure joy and excitement were the only words I can use to describe what I was experiencing. The second the lights went down, the graphics started playing on the screens, and I started to scream while tears streamed down my face. Hearing him sing What Makes You Beautiful made my inner child smile ear to ear, because right then I knew I was fulfilling my younger self’s dream the best I could.