Harry Styles review, Eventim Apollo in London: Undeniably thrilling to watch

Styles is an entirely different artist to the one struggling to muster enthusiasm at a One Direction concert two years ago

Harry Styles (Hélène Marie Pambrun)

It’s an obvious thing to expect, but still impossible to prepare for: the sheer volume and earnestness of screams as the silhouette of Harry Styles appears on a curtain across the stage at London’s Eventim Apollo.

Decked out in a shimmering blue silk suit he plays the first few guitar notes of his debut solo album’s intro and the volume of screams rises again.

Just over two years ago at the O2 Arena, at One Direction’s first gig since the departure of Zayn Malik, Styles seemed lost onstage. He stumbled around without apparent care for the show, often not bothering to finish a lyric, not communicating with the others onstage.

Harry Styles performs at the Eventim Apollo in London (Hélène Marie Pambrun)

Tonight he’s an entirely different artist. He flirts outrageously with his lead guitarist, rocks out to a solo by his drummer Sarah Jones, and blows kisses to individuals in the crowd, who wave rainbow flags and signs pleading for marriage, a look, a photo – anything.

On “Carolina” he shakes his hips with the Stealers Wheel-influenced hook and belts out its infectious chorus, before mellowing things out with “Sweet Creature” and the deeply intimate “From The Dining Table”.

Seconds into “A Little Bit Of Your Heart” – the song he penned for Ariana Grande – he stops and peers into the crowd. A fan, maybe more than one, apparently overwhelmed. Styles asks the crowd to move back a little.

“Just step back slowly, give her some room,” he says in a slow, calm voice, as though talking to a skittish horse, then as she is carried off by a medic: ”Let’s do this again, if everyone’s OK.”

Styles is undeniably thrilling to watch live – on material from his debut solo album Sign Of The Times he puts everything into the song, vocals clear even above the shrieks. But on the One Direction tracks he still seems to find it tricky to muster any serious enthusiasm, even with a decent rock reworking of “Beautiful”.

Harry Styles (Hélène Marie Pambrun)

His charisma returns on “Kiwi” – clearly a crowd favourite – where he emulates the rock thrill of Chuck Berry, but with all the sauce of Lenny Kravitz singing “American Woman”.

There’s a brief interval before the encore where he struts back onstage to knock out a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, backed by perfect harmonies from his band.

Screams of “Kiwi” persuade him to perform part of the track again before closing on what was his debut solo single, the album’s title track.

While “Sign Of The Times” is one of the weaker tracks on the record due to its toppling more into the realms of rock pastiche, it soars as a live performance: those unmistakable Bowie influences in the building instrumentation lifting his wonderful falsetto.

Styles is doing a fine job of reinventing himself as a credible young artist – a serious feat to achieve for anyone with his level of fame – and it’s clear that he’s only just getting started.