You’re all wrong – Harry Styles hasn’t lost his sex appeal

Harry Styles’ new tour proves he’s undeniably at the top of his game right now, even if some fans seem to think he’s on the decline.

Opening night for the Together Together residency tour comes a week after his Dance No More music video sparked a huge online debate about whether he is still ‘sexy’ (even in his tiny shorts).

At the time, I thought this was just internet exaggeration, but when Harry walked on stage in Amsterdam to a crowd of adoring fans, one Welsh voice behind me loudly declared: ‘Oh no, I hate his tie, what’s he wearing?’

She later confessed she thought he’d ‘gone a bit cringe’, despite this era giving us a much more toned-down superstar, swapping sequins for shirts.

However, Harry himself seems more at home in his own skin than ever and with it comes a magnetic confidence when he’s performing live.

It was an incredibly energetic start to the gig, after an indulgent pre-filmed introduction gave way to one of my favourite songs on Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally.

Are You Listening Yet is arguably the only song he should ever open a gig with again; it perfectly sets the tone and gets everyone moving immediately.

He followed the track up with fan favourites like Golden, Watermelon Sugar and Adore You, confirming this wouldn’t just be the new album

By the time he sang Music For a Sushi Restaurant I’d begun to wonder if he was getting all the old tracks out of the way. As if reading my mind, Harry then belted out Taste Back.

Despite being a largely upbeat gig, he did pause every so often to slow things down, including closing his ‘act one’ with Fine Line.

It’s a shame that he faced some technical issues here, where the speakers sounded blown out as the bass fought with this more intimate number.

This happened a few times throughout the show, but I’ll put that down to teething issues. After all, he’s got nine gigs left to go in Amsterdam alone.

Act Two kicked off a more dance-heavy side of his music after an impressive musical interlude, with his band on top form.

American Girls, Ready Steady Go, and Dance No More are all packed into this section, with Harry even including a choreographed dance for the latter.

It’s nowhere near his huge Aperture performance from the Brits but it showed he is attempting to elevate his already energetic performance style. Maybe there’s a Dua Lipa-level dance glow-up incoming.

He was beaming for the entire two-hour set, barely stopping to chat between tracks, but when he did, he made every second count, interacting with fans and joking that Sign of the Times was a ‘new song he wrote backstage’.

Harry told the crowd he just wanted everyone to ‘dance’ and have a good time, at one point explaining how his wish was for everyone to have a party free from their phones.

Phones at gigs have been a hot topic for the former One Direction star as fans practically fell apart when he announced his one-night-only Manchester show was phone-free.

With that in mind, I don’t know why I was a little shocked when I realised the Together Together tour stage kept on obscuring Harry from view.

@danniscotty

Together Together tour opening night was absolutely electric Thanks to @viagogo for this insane view #harrystyles #togethertogether #harrystylestour #kattdo #music

♬ original sound – Danni | Music Journalist

Stage design is rarely my biggest gig priority, but when standing in the front section, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

While the bridges between sections do elevate him, for large portions of the show, they also completely blocked him from view. Not what you’d expect for tickets that cost hundreds.

However, this probably had the exact impact Harry had planned, as it meant I gave up looking for him and just had a proper dance.

There’s something incredibly powerful about a performance that doesn’t fall back on gimmicks, outfit changes, and special guests to keep your attention.

He did select specific people in the crowd, with us all singing Happy Birthday to one fan, but in 2026, when almost every concert has an Apple cam, a star being ‘arrested’, or a ‘Sally’, the lack of overproduction felt novel.

Harry didn’t even change his shirt. The aforementioned tie – a blue and orange flowery one, in case you were wondering – did slowly get loosened and then removed as we moved through the acts.

The abandonment of his jumpsuits and feather boas feels a little like David Bowie shucking his Ziggy Stardust alter ego. That twinkle is still in his eye, but in his new confidence, the need for a flamboyant stage persona has faded.

Despite what the internet would have you believe, Harry is at the top of his game, with ticketing marketplace viagogo finding search demand for him is 48 times higher than in 2024 for Love on Tour.

The site revealed the UK remains his biggest fan base, with his London shows the number one travel destination, with music lovers hailing from The Netherlands, Spain, Germany and France.

Maybe here he might bring out a familiar face, but Harry has never been one for collabs, probably impacted by his years as a five-piece.

Ultimately, the Together Together tour is just a really good time – but only if you let go of that ned to cling to your phone for that concert shot and just dance.

As I was leaving, I asked the Welsh girl if the tie grew on her at all. It didn’t, but she said all concerns he’d turned ‘cringe’ had vanished.

‘He’s still gorgeous,’ she added with a laugh.

Thankfully, Harry didn’t commit the biggest concert sin – a fake encore – and ended the show with As It Was, which remains his biggest track for good reason.

The entire crowd sang along, with the marathon fan breaking into a sprint around the stage so everyone could get one final little glimpse of him. Charming to the very end.

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