Harry Styles in the Rafters After Closing MSG Residency Tour
Harry Styles on stage at MSG during the opening night of his tour
Photo Creds: Noelle Alfano '25
On Sept. 21, British singer-songwriter Harry Styles said goodbye to New York City after performing 15 consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden (MSG) — and his final show was more special than ever.
After debuting his third album titled “Harry’s House” on May 20 of this year, Styles announced he’d be carrying on with his concert tour known to fans as “Love on Tour.” To go along with the theme of home in this album, these residency shows were to take place on various nights in five major North American cities: Toronto, New York, Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The pop star's time at MSG was initially scheduled for 10 nights, but later got pushed to 15 to give fans more chances to get tickets. Although, lots of people underwent similar issues when it came to buying on Ticketmaster. Supporters had no choice but to rank their preferred dates when applying for presale codes. Those lucky enough to be awarded a code were then assigned specific time slots where they could begin the dreaded ticket-buying process. This caused frustration for many people, especially because tickets were either already sold or racked up to thousands of dollars in seconds.
Despite the drama with ticket sales and scalpers, Styles managed to sell out this distinguished arena all 15 nights — something never done before.
Styles’ shows are known for being a safe space for fans, where they can be themselves without any judgment from those around them. “It’s like a family full of strangers who are all kind of feeling this, like, free evening,” Styles said on the Howard Stern Show. “It’s kind of an escape.” The 28-year-old credits the creation of such an atmosphere to the fans, not himself.
As Poughkeepsie is only a train ride away from Manhattan, many students at Marist College were lucky enough to visit “Harry’s House.”
“It was very fun and just carefree I would say,” said Claire Kenny ‘25. Maddie Phillips ‘25 used the word “electric” to describe the night.
The Madison Square Garden staff did a remarkable job arranging various photo ops for fans as well as special treats catered to Styles’ brand. Such goodies included feathered boa-wrapped cotton candy and sprinkled pretzels. They even offered assorted candy bags from Dylan’s Candy Bar and mini tie-dyed cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, both NYC fan favorites.
Styles kicked off the first night at the Garden on Aug. 20 and showed obvious signs of energy and excitement for the nights ahead. To fans, each night of this tour leg meant new outfits, interactions, and the possibility of unreleased music being played.
It became a trend for Styles to perform his well-known, unpublished song titled “Medicine,” almost every other night at the Garden. Styles has been playing this for fans on occasion since 2018, yet they continue to go crazy every time it’s added to the setlist.
In addition to the famous NYC stage, Styles was also entertaining people on the big screen in his newest film “Don’t Worry Darling,” directed by Olivia Wilde. The nights when the actor was given a break from singing, he was attending press events for this psychological thriller. Styles even traveled from New York all the way to Italy so he could show face at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 4. In a day’s time, he was back at MSG.
All that being said, Styles’ last night at MSG was definitely the most memorable. A colorful feathered boa was left on every seat in the lower bowl as a thank you to the fans who bought tickets and supported the soloist thus far. As if that wasn’t enough, Styles even performed his song “Ever Since New York” from his self-titled album for the first time in four years.
The most significant moment of the night though, came when the former One Direction member was given a banner with his name and the number “15” on it to celebrate his 15th consecutive sold-out show. His banner was raised to the rafters to be alongside two other renowned musicians: Billy Joel and Phish. Styles has a while until he reaches Joel’s record of 83 consecutive nights — but by the look of things — he is right behind him. Styles’ banner is to remain permanently in its place at the Garden.
“I thought it was really cool, I mean that’s a big accomplishment,” said Kenny in response to Styles’ banner.
Television personality Gayle King revealed this surprise to Styles at the end of his last show. The artist expressed his overwhelming gratitude to both King and the 20,000 people in the crowd. “Anytime, when you come to Madison Square Garden and you see that, remember it’s because of you,” said a misty-eyed Styles. “That is ours.”
“I’m really proud of him,” said Phillips. “I think he deserved it.”
Styles is set to continue touring until July of this year, finishing his residency shows in mid-October and reaching Europe come May.