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HARRY STYLES LIGHTS UP TROUBADOUR WITH SURPRISE GIG

Columbia heartthrob Harry Styles celebrated the release of his album with an invigorating, 14-song show Friday night at L.A.’s iconic (and quite intimate) Troubadour.


Tickets for the 500-capacity venue were made available to purchase at Amoeba the day of the show. In fact, the surprise show, which sold-out at lightning speed, was announced around 2:30pm on Twitter and doors opened at 7:30pm.

The amazing thing about hearing the live rendition of the songs of Harry Styles was the instantly familiar quality. The crowd knew every word to songs that, for the most part, only became available for listening a week ago—a mark of true craftsmanship. Styles’ vocals proved to be top-notch, as he and his band—Alex Salibian, Mitch Rowland, Sarah Jones, Clare Uchima, Adam Prendergast—delivered a sound just like what’s heard on the record, a rare feat.

Oh, and did we forget to mention Styles’ honorary band member for three songs? Three words: Stevie freakin’ Nicks. Styles welcomed out the musical angel and game-changer, who he aptly referred to as a queen, to perform his own song “Two Ghosts” (How cool is that?), as well as “Landslide” (!!!) and Nicks and Don Henley’s “Leather and Lace.” It was a truly incredible moment, one that brought Styles to tears.


When she left the stage, he turned to the crowd and urged, “This is definitely the best night of my life. Thank you for being a part of it.”

One thing’s certain. Styles, who donned a fabulous pair of shimmering gold slacks for the event, has solidified himself as a solo star. His live show painted him as charming, humble, thankful, engaged and hungry for more. As for songs that were not assisted by Miss Nicks, “Carolina” and “Sweet Creature” were delivered in a touchingly spirited manner, and “Only Angel” and “Kiwi” were pretty jaw-dropping. He ended up playing the latter for a second time (during the encore), explaining "I only have one album! We've simply run out of material," before receiving a rapturous response from audience members when they were asked if they'd like to hear "Kiwi" again.

Naturally, the evening proved to be a real who’s who. Industry notables spotted in the crowd included the label’s Joel Klaiman and Lee Leipsner, manager Jeffrey Azoff, Irving Azoff, Grammy man Ken Ehrlich, iHeart’s John Ivey, James Corden, who just had Styles for a four-night residency on his late night show, CAA’s Mitch Rose, William MorrisKirk Sommer and writer/producer Savan Kotecha. As for the celebrities, there was Cameron Crowe, Mick Fleetwood, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Christine McVie, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan—director of Dunkirk, the not-yet-released film that Styles makes his acting debut in—Simon Konecki, Mike Meldman, et al.


As for the setting, imagine tons of traffic, barricades, a heavy security presence on the streets and mobs of screaming fans, four of whom were lucky enough to win a Twitter-based ticket raffle during the set. Those fans were escorted in with tears streaming down their faces, and that pretty much sums it all up.

All proceeds from the show went to Safe Place For Youth charity.

SET LIST:
-“Ever Since New York”
-“Carolina”
-“Meet Me in the Hallway”
-“Woman”
-“Sweet Creature”
-“Only Angel”
-“Stockholm Syndrome”
-“Two Ghosts”
-“Landslide”
-“Leather and Lace”
-“Kiwi”
-“From the Dining Table”*
-“Kiwi”*
-“Sign of the Times”*


*Encore
^Photos by Jacqueline Verdugo

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