Harry’s House is the Mood; or it has been the past week. Singer-songwriter Harry Styles took up occupation in the new Moody Center on the UT campus for the second leg of his American tour of his third solo album, ‘Harry’s House’. The album has been a hit success since its debut back in May of this year. It consists of upbeat tunes like ‘Late Night Talking’; to more deep expressions of the artist’s life like ‘Matilda’ where he talks about the effects of growing apart from ones family.

I had the opportunity to see his third night in Austin, out of six, from the middle of the bottom level of the Indeed Club. I would absolutely recommend those seats for prime comfort and viewing experience.

The venue kicked off with a joyous and smooth opener, the band Gabirels. The lead singer Jacob Lusk, is a gospel-bred artist from California who emerged from the tenth season of American Idol. His rich, deep voice illuminated the crowd like magic, and even managed to get the tired ‘Standing Room Only’ fans to stomp their boots. 

After the opener thanked the audience and Harry, he made his way off stage while the anticipation of what was coming grew. The crowd screamed to old One Direction songs while we waited for the lights to dim. I knew from Googling that he would come out around 9:15 pm, I had twenty minutes. I decided to risk a hot dog for my growling stomach.

When I returned to my seat, thoroughly fed, I caught a glimpse of the black box labeled ‘soft goods’. Everyone in the arena knew Harry was inside. The box was used to transport him under the stage until it was time for him to rise from a platform in the middle of the band. After a few more minutes the lights finally dimmed, and the speakers started saying something. It was completely inaudible over the screaming pounding in my ears. I screamed with them. The band broke into ‘Daydreaming’, a song from the new album. Harry rose like a corpse up from the floor and burst into a run all along the edges of the stage. He jumped and waved and skipped like a kid. He was endless.

While he sang the lights from the end of the jumbotron flashed and swerved, somehow programmed to illustrate the vibe of each song. Before he got to ‘Matilda’, and then ‘Little Freak’ [another sad one] he said; “The next song is very special to me. And I hope, after tonight, it will be special to you.”As the light guitar strings of ‘Matilda’ picked up, thousands of fans burst into tears around me.

He continued through his setlist with various pauses to pursue the crowd’s signs, ranging from sweet to alarming, and even gifted some timeless Harry Styles-advice to those who seemed to need it most. Even the countless fathers who had been dragged by their daughters were charmed. Not a single person would walk out untouched by the magic Styles was creating. The beats were contagious, nonstop dancing from my seat made my feet screech in pain but I didn’t care. It was just one little problem in a sea of solutions, so I just kept dancing.

When he reached the end of his setlist, after what seemed like only minutes, he reached into the past with some oldies like ‘Sign of the Times’, from his first solo album, One Direction’s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, and even the unreleased single, ‘Medicine’. We had lost our minds, and got them back by the time the iconic tempo of ‘Kiwi’ closed the night. The ending sadness was tangible in the air, but the vengeful lyrics of the song wouldn’t let anyone stand still.

Then he was gone. Like a ghost; he floated off the stage and out of the main floor like he was ripping a bandaid off. We didn’t have to say a slow goodbye, just stand with open mouthed expressions as we tried to make sense of the last two hours. It was time for Harry’s House to turn out the lights, and close its doors until tomorrow night.