By Alexandra Pullen
Photo Credit: Netflix
The return of Harry Styles feels as though it has been a long time coming.
Let me give you a glimpse into a conversation between a friend and I in December 2025:
In reality, it had only been around two and a half years since Styles had finished his mammoth 169-show run of Love On Tour, his headline tour in celebration of his second and third albums Fine Line and Harry’s House. A completely reasonable length for a break, especially after touring for almost two years back-to-back, and yet to fans it has been normalised for musicians to release a constant flow of music, keeping them ‘fed’ at all times. This is completely unattainable, and perhaps my predictions of Styles’ return displays some of what is wrong with the expectations of fanbases in modern music. But, it was correct.
He has made appearances here and there, most notably was a brief special guest slot alongside Stevie Nicks at Hyde Park in July 2024. However, just weeks after the aforementioned conversation, Styles resurfaced with an eight and a half minute video including a compilation of clips of fans, and him playing a melancholic tune on piano, ending with the phrase “We Belong Together”.
Shortly after, Harry officially made his return by announcing his fourth album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. as well as a residency tour around the world, and the album’s first single Aperture with an accompanying music video.
The only piece left of Styles’ usual album rollout puzzle was the announcement of a ‘One Night Only’ show. He’s done them before in London, New York and Los Angeles, but for this one, Harry returned to where it all began. Rewind 16 years, to the X Factor stage in Manchester, where Styles performed Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely, and was consequently grouped with Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan to form One Direction.
On the 4th February, Styles shared that his One Night Only show would be taking place in Manchester’s Co-op Live. As a Mancunian, and of course, a major fan, I couldn’t believe it. Harry Styles. £20 tickets. Right on my doorstep. What more could I ask for? Well, the only barrier was the matter of actually getting the tickets…
Ticketmaster’s randomised ballot system did make it the most fair it could have been, but the unknowing was what drove a lot of fans mad. After getting several people on board to sign up, my cousin was the chosen one. Not only did she get two tickets, but two standing tickets. This was a fact that didn’t quite set in until we were sat outside Co-op Live at 1:30pm on Friday 6th March, ready for the seven and a half hour wait until Styles was due to grace the stage.
I went into Co-op Live that evening knowing very little. I had chosen not to listen to Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. in order to have the unique experience of listening to it for the first time live. I didn’t know what the stage layout would be like, and nobody knew what a Harry Styles show without phones, and being filmed for Netflix, would be like, either. After the usual queuing and entrance system, this was a night like no other. We sealed our phones in recyclable bags which covered the cameras and swapped them for disposables.
We entered the arena and were met with a huge 360° stage, with catwalks at either side, and were lucky enough to get to the barrier of the standing area. Building up to Styles’ stage entrance, fans were treated to an exquisite pre-show playlist with the likes of David Bowie, Blondie, and then, moments before he came out, the bellowing echoes of Elvis Presley’s cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Just after 9pm, the strobe lights began to flash, screaming began to build, and Harry Styles began his journey into a new era of his musical career.
Starting with Aperture, a song which left some fans uncertain upon its release, but signalled a completely new sound for Styles, an immediate feeling of freedom and togetherness swept across the room of 23,500. The extended introduction, with the singer experimenting with synths, built excitement to the max and was followed by an eruption of energy by the time the bridge and closing choruses came around.
He continued playing the album beginning to end, with American Girls, and Ready, Steady, Go! up next, rocking a more nonchalant and relaxed outfit than would previously have been expected. Still bright and colourful, Styles wore a blue jumper with a black shirt containing daisies on it, paired with yellow tailored trousers – a very Bowie-esque look which he seems to be leaning into this era.
Throughout the entire night, as well as presenting incredible showmanship, Styles displayed how much he values his fans and performing live: “I had to take a little bit of time away from everything, and stepping back into this room with you, I know exactly why I’m here…” After all, despite what seems to be a couple of years focusing on self discovery, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. is not an album for – or necessarily all about – Harry Styles. It is for the fans. Styles himself has said that he hopes listeners find something about themselves in this music, and as Pitchfork have pointed out, albeit perhaps with a more negative spin, the singer uses the word ‘you’ and its derivatives 326 times during the album’s 12 songs.
A highlight for me, Are You Listening Yet? came next, where he moved all around his 360° stage in an attempt to make eye contact with everyone in the room. Over the course of his set, Styles was joined on stage by two groups, one was the House Gospel Choir, who provided uplifting backing vocals in the likes of Aperture and Season 2 Weight Loss, while in the more touching ballads including Coming Up Roses and Paint By Numbers, a strings section was included.
My favourites of the night, and of the album as a whole, have to be Dance No More and Pop. The pair are ultimate dance tunes and Styles certainly let loose during them, as did the crowd. In the former, many would chant along with the likes of “respect your mother”! In fact, it was seriously impressive how loud fans were chanting considering the album came out in the UK at midnight of the same day.
The singer gave a few shoutouts to people who had impacted and contributed to the creation of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. First of all, before the string-driven vulnerability of Coming Up Roses, Styles shared his appreciation towards Tom Hull (aka Kid Harpoon), his good friend and long-time collaborator who encouraged him to keep such an emotional song on the album. Later in the night, upon closing his new album, he shared that the namesake of Carla’s Song, a good friend of his, was in the crowd that night. It was the perfect closer, reminiscent of Satellite, and will certainly be brilliant in the stadiums he is playing on the Together, Together tour later this year.
Styles had warned us of his upcoming encore, but the song he opened it with would not have been guessed by many. From The Dining Table, the album closer of his debut, hadn’t been played live since 2018, and yet this sombre and mellow tune began what grew into a more energetic and dynamic section of the show. He continued into some of his more well-known heavy-hitters doing a full 180 and prompting everyone to jump and dance to the sounds of Golden and Watermelon Sugar, from Fine Line. Quite surprisingly, only one from his GRAMMY-winning album Harry’s House made the cut, but I think it’s safe to say that the arena was at its loudest when the 23,500 fans were screaming “leave America” during As It Was.
A beautifully poignant performance of Styles’ first solo single, Sign of the Times, rounded off the ‘oldies’, and it made me reflect upon how far the singer has come in his career. From being just 16-years-old and busting out some questionable moves on the X Factor stage, to becoming a worldwide solo sensation with four incredibly strong albums under his belt, Harry Styles is a true force to be reckoned with. Before going into it, he delivered a heartfelt closing speech: “In a world that is so chaotic, it is so easy to be hopeless. I look at these rooms and see what you create, and there’s hope here. Thank you for being a light in my life and spreading joy to people in your own lives: be the change in the world.” Joined for a final time by the strings section, Sign of the Times did not leave a dry eye in the room. Except, the show wasn’t quite over yet.
For one last hurrah, almost an encore of the encore, Styles surprised fans and after taking just a few steps from the stage, turned back to end the show how he started it: with Aperture. The reverberation of “we belong together” flew around Co-op Live once more, and was an immaculate closing message from Harry to his fans. One Night Only was a night filled with love, happiness and positivity, and I will remember it for the rest of my life!
Text Copyright 2026 © Alexandra Pullen/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Photography Copyright 2026 © reserved to its rightful owners.
Disposable camera shots provided by Alexandra Pullen & Maggie Leigh. Do not reproduce.
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