Live Review: Harry Styles, The Preatures

On Saturday night dedicated fans flocked to Brisbane Entertainment Centre en masse to see British ex-boy band member, Harry Styles, in the flesh.

Sydney band The Preatures kicked off the night with their collection of infectious indie rock tunes. Regaling the eager crowd with songs from their two albums Blue Planet Eyes and Girlhood, The Preatures gave their best show, considering that the audience wasn't particularly interested in anyone that wasn't Harry Styles.

But when The Preatures write a hit, they do it well. Is This How You Feel?, which was certified gold in Australia, was the highlight of the set. Even if the audience had never heard of The Preatures, they knew this song.

Lead singer Isabella Manfredi took a moment out of the set to give a heartfelt thank you to Styles himself, garnering excited screams from the crowd. Styles, who has made a point of taking female-driven acts on the road with him on this tour, should be commended for his support of up-and-coming women in music.

It was a spiritual encounter when the lights went down and Harry Styles came out, a testament to the god-like worship conjured within his fanbase over the years. Starting the show with Only Angel and Woman the crowd was singing along in no time.

Styles has retained the natural charm that saw him quickly become the fan favourite of One Direction. Wrapping the crowd around his little finger with ease and grinning from ear to ear he seemed completely comfortable up there without his former bandmates. Styles has charisma enough to fill the arena all on his own. While being in One Direction gave him the chance to grow and learn, the opportunity for Styles to branch out and go his own way is one that seems to be repaying him tenfold in terms of gratification and artistry.

Joking about how he only has ten songs to his name, Styles still managed to fill an hour and a half set with ease. He kept everyone invested with some of the old boy band hits, like What Makes You Beautiful, and Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart, which was written by Styles and given to Ariana Grande. This is only more proof of the talent that Styles has, which goes far beyond your typical puppet-on-a-string pop star.

Taking an intimate moment with the back half of the arena for ballads Sweet Creature and If I Could Fly, Styles managed to make a 13,500 capacity room feel like an intimate show. This is something that after launching off of a platform like The X Factor, fans can only ever dream of experiencing.

Harry Styles is almost hyper-aware of how lucky he is. Thanking his fans for their incredible support over the last eight years, he looked out to the adoring crowd saying, "I owe you my life, I will never be able to thank you enough." His incredibly endearing and genuine nature shone through, despite the weariness that he is surely feeling this deep into a world tour.

The encore held the most energy of the night. Styles provided a rendition of Fleetwood Mac classic The Chain (which perhaps was a little lost on the younger generations in the audience but resonated with the parents and those who, like this reviewer, grew up listening to it on their parents' records). Ending the night on a rock'n'roll fuelled high with Kiwi, it was abundantly clear that Styles is not the 17-year-old baby face that he used to be. We can only hope that as he continues to write and explore his artistry that he leaves his boy band beginnings behind him and finds his feet as a genuine artist.

It was clear throughout the night that, as with a lot of people in their 20s, Styles has drawn influence from many of the greats before him such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and even The Velvet Underground. It will be interesting to watch him as he transforms this into something that is truly his own.