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If you want to see Harry Styles perform live when he heads to Australia, you’re going to have to get in quick.
Styles just announced he’s set to tour his debut solo album Down Under in November, but the former One Direction-er will play just two shows, one at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on the 26th and one at Melbourne’s Forum on the 30th.
It may not be a coincidence that Harry has chosen to play intimate, inner-city venues for his first solo performances. The Brit is no doubt looking to shed the heartthrob image he gained as a boyband member. Could he be trying to shake off his young fans, who often attend his concerts in large, screaming groups?
Alternatively, he could be testing the market reaction in Australia, and depending on demand for tickets, could add more shows to his Down Under leg.
Harry dropped his first single as a solo artist, Sign Of The Times, this month, with an album to come on May 12.
As a solo artist Harry has adopted a different sound to that of Zayn Malik and Liam Payne, whose post-One Direction releases have been very ‘now’, ear worm electro-pop tracks.
Sign Of The Times is best described as a classic rock ballad, which showcases Styles’ vocal talent. With its slightly melancholy sound and vague lyrics (“Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times/ Welcome to the final show, hope you’re wearing your best clothes”) it’s hard not to make comparisons to David Bowie.
The 23-year-old admitted to being inspired by music icons of the seventies and eighties in an interview on Radio1 as he debuted Sign Of The Times.
“I think it’s hard to not have influences from what you grew up listening [to],” Harry told Nick Grimshaw. “I had a good mix between my mum and my dad, because my dad was into, like, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen; while my mum was like, Norah Jones and Savage Garden.”
