KULTURA / CULTURE
A sterdam might seem like a slightly unexpected place to launch a tour like Harry Styles’ ’Together, Together’, particu- larly when you take into con- sideration that he’ll mostly be performing in one city on each continent throughout the year. Following ten performances at Jo- han Cruyff Arena in the capital of the Neth- erlands, he moves on to London, then New York, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Melbourne and Sydney, performing a total of 67 concerts. I was also among the nearly 50,000 people attending one of the tour nights in Amsterdam. Strolling the city that week- end, it was easy to notice the contribu- tion he was making to local tourism: on the streets could be heard people speak- ing UK and U.S. English almost as often as Dutch, while the merch pop-up shops locat- ed around the city’s iconic Nine Streets were bustling with Gen-Z fans dressed in shorts, shirts with ties and enough glitter to shine until the end of the weekend. The audience screamed throughout the concert, of course. As he might well have expected, the reaction to his latest album – the more restrained “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” – wasn’t as fanatical as fans’ reception of his previous editions, though he, frankly, set the bar very high with those albums. The songs of the new album nonetheless take on a whole new dimen- sion when performed live. A large part of the credit for that belongs to his extreme- ly adaptable band, which for certain songs numbers as many as 18 musicians. How- ever, the greatest credit belongs, of course, to the man himself. Whether he’s throwing himself unrestrained through dance moves or tenderly hugging his star-studded gui- tar, Styles remains infinitely charismatic. “The whole reason we’re on this tour,” he began explaining to the audience, “the whole reason that I made this last album, is about being together, having moments to- gether, having fun together. And that’s what we want to do here tonight. I challenge you to have as much fun as I’m going to have”. Mission accomplished! The audience emerged from that arena in a state of al- most blissful contentment, as if heading home after a phenomenal first date, hum- ming the iconic chorus of the single Aper- ture “We belong together...” In contrast, when approaching Düssel- dorf’s Merkur Spiel Arena a few weeks lat- er to attend one of Bad Bunny’s concerts as
SUMMER OF HOT CONCERTS HARRY STYLES AND BAD BUNNY We attended concerts of two of the year’s hottest tours to find out if all the hype is justified. And it is
part of his sold-out DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS World Tour, the atmosphere was – as one would say in Spanish – muy caliente (very hot). We were all clearly feeling euphoric just to be there. And everyone in the audience seemingly understood the mission when it came to attire: girls sporting flowers in their hair and boys in Hawaiian outfits on every corner made it feel like this ordinarily effi- cient and restrained German city had been completely conquered by the spirit of Lat- in parties. His concert confirmed that you don’t need to understand the lyrics to un- derstand why Bad Bunny has become one of the world’s biggest stars. The concert was divided into two dis- tinct parts. The first saw the artist present himself as a traditionalist, leading a live band and, at one point, an entire troupe of salsa dancers. His vision of this genre nev- ertheless also brings unexpected twists. The song Baile Inolvidable opens with a long and surprisingly progressive synthesiser solo, while an even longer Spanish ten- string guitar solo ultimately turns into a cover of the Beatles’ Hey Jude. The second part of the concert accen-
tuated his talent for relentless rhythms and his role as a tireless party starter – in com- plete contrast to the man who, just moments earlier, had performed the ballad “Turista” in a beige suit and tie. The first character is icy calm, standing motionless between songs, staring around the stadium and oc- casionally heaving a deep sigh, as if assess- ing the space he plans to renovate; the sec- ond is explosive, filled with self-confidence and endless energy. For a good part of the concert, Bad Bunny remains hidden from the majority of the audience and can only be watched on big screens, as he makes his way through a crowd of people celebrating all around him. But everything nonetheless functions exceptionally. The stadium ter- races pulsate thanks to LED lights embed- ded in the fake cameras worn by audience members around their necks (handed out at the entrance), while people on the ground dance with each other more than watching the performance. As a whole, the event is more reminiscent of a rave than a classic stadium concert. Everything seems hon- est and touching, not like a preconceived show. Who would want to miss out on this?
50 | Muzika » Music
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