Harry Styles hit in the eye at Vienna concert

2023-07-09 12:28:00

A video shared on social networks shows the musician flinching and grabbing his face. The music magazine “Rolling Stone” also reported on it online. A video shows the incident:

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It’s not the first time Styles has been thrown at – including chicken nuggets and candy. That’s why it was expressly forbidden to take kiwis and melons with you to the Prateroval (so that nobody gets any stupid ideas when listening to the songs “Watermelon Sugar” and “Kiwi”). US singer Bebe Rexha recently suffered a black eye after a concert-goer threw a cell phone in her face. Adele and several other artists then appealed not to throw objects at musicians.

Triumph of the pop king

Harry Styles let 60,000 happy people into the night after his concert in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Saturday. Before that, the Brit, accompanied by a great band, completed a perfect two-hour pop concert – exuberant, loud, sometimes intimate, entertaining and with a lot of love. It was a triumph of the current pop king, without any fireworks and trapeze art, just with the power of 20 songs and an entertainer in top form.

Yesterday, even people who were not familiar with the area could easily find their way into the Prateroval, as feathers trickled down from the fans’ boas lined the route. This accessory belongs to the styles aficionado like the “Kutte” belongs to the metal freak. The last few meters were lined with barriers, between which die-hard supporters (probably primarily female supporters) of the 29-year-old singer stayed to be the first to enter. And inside, the mood was already high with the properly playing support act Wet Leg, so that the enthusiasm could be felt far into Leopoldstadt.

Raging mass hysteria

A square walkway and a huge, dignified video wall – Harry Styles doesn’t need more physical show elements, that alone sets him apart. He started with “Daydreaming”, loud but still screaming, just as the following “Golden” fought against the raging mass hysteria. But then Styles conjured up a touch of nightclub atmosphere in the outdated concrete building with strong vocals and the intense, somewhat laid-back “Adore You”, drummer Sarah Jones, otherwise the ideal pacesetter, sets fine nuances as the second voice.

“It’s our job to entertain you. I promise we’ll do our best,” announced Styles, who can make thousands of throats squeal or shut down completely with a wave of his hand. He kept his word. “She” came soulful, garnished with a long, lush solo from guitarist Mitch Rowland, the ballad “Matilda”, hailed by “Rolling Stone” as a “heartbreaking masterpiece”, with cello accompaniment, and then the driving “Satellite”. three minutes of cellphone light swinging to dance.

“Love On Tour”

With “Late Night Talking,” Styles delivered the first uber-hit climax, only to then practice his own late-night conversations with fans. It’s as much a part of the former One Direction member as helping out with a “coming out” and dancing with the rainbow flag. “Am I gay when 99 percent of men disgust me?” read a sign on a young woman. “To be honest, 99 percent of men disgust me, too,” said Styles, himself a cavalier, who throws flowers at the audience only to be bombarded with them himself on “Grapejuice.”

It’s the “Love On Tour”, the motto was already given before the show by the Beatles with “All You Need Is Love” from the can – sung by the crowd as loudly as Styles’ “Treat People With Kindness” later. The messages are clear and important. The fact that the Englishman also has what is probably the best mainstream pop at the moment made the concert a feel-good experience – whether the semi-acoustic “Fine Line” invited you to dream or the concluding hit fireworks “Sign Of The Times” and “As It Was ” to freak out.

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