Harry Styles offers up the perfect balance of old and new during record-breaking residency at London’s Wembley Stadium

“Put a bell on your bicycle!” Aside from the argument that if it’s shared between upwards of 60,000 people on a daily basis (and then millions more online), then it doesn’t really qualify as such, it’s this - an in-joke - that sits at the core of tonight (and Harry Styles’ Together, Together tour so far). 

It’s not one of the evening’s most showy moments: for those, see the rounds of fireworks that circle Wembley’s iconic roof throughout penultimate (and equally iconic) number ‘Sign of the Times’; the laser show that takes recent album track ‘Season 2 Weight Loss’ fully into the night (and in turn, makes one of many arguments for Harry’s appearance on a certain Pyramid next year); and the sheer scale of the extended stage, a series of interconnected and floor-lit runways that expands the spectacle for those in the nosebleeds and creates a curiously intimate feel for those fortunate enough to be up close within them. They’re huge: you probably don’t have to be a marathon runner to make full use of their length and breadth, but by the way Harry’s looping them to give as many here as great a view as possible, it definitely must help. 

The aforementioned bicycle joke is what was likely an off-the-cuff riff on stage in Amsterdam (where this tour began last month), repeated - much to the glee of many of here in North London tonight. He’s standing, geeking away at a synth, handheld mic to his face - James Murphy style - with a cheeky glint in his eye. He’s getting to do something he wants to - incorporating the music he’s spoken of falling in love with during his time away into his own practice; and the fans get what they want, too - a shared moment, a moment to share, or simply just an avoidance of FOMO versus their Dutch peers. Staring up at the expanse of faces that become mere pin-pricks to the eye at Wembley’s upper reaches, it becomes clear just how huge his task is: namely, managing 80,000 individual parasocial relationships on a daily basis.

For it’s when he and his band - now formed around a staple core of Mitch Rowland, Sarah Jones, Adam Prendergast, Ny Oh and Charlotte Clark - are smartly relocated to the centre of the walkways, Harry bouncing around in the cocoon-like centre they create, that he’s most visibly in his element. There’s the interplay between them all; more noodling around at the synth; and joyous impromptu(ish) interpolations - drummer Sarah Jones’ introduction is offered to the tune of Gorillaz’ ‘Dare’, leading into ‘Dance No More’. Of course it fits. March’s ‘KISS ALL THE TIME, DISCO OCCASIONALLY’ sounds like a record that is supposed to live in medium-sized venues, from club basements to theatres. Unfortunately for Harry, he’d have to spend a whole 192 nights at Brixton Academy to satisfy demand.