Harry Styles. One Night in Manchester.
Rating: 5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
I have been a pretty big fan of Harry Styles for the last few years, and attending one of his final shows for his Love On Tour at the Kia Forum in 2023 was easily one of the best concerts I have been to. He then took a few years off to focus on himself and rediscover his passion for music after an extensive album and tour run. But, he is now back and promoting his fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. With that, Netflix released a concert film of his One Nigh Only concert in Manchester, which is the only time he performs the entire album top to bottom, with a few oldies at the end. Directed by Paul Dugdale, who is known for doing concert films for the likes of Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and even One Direction and Harry Styles' first album release, Harry Styles. One Night in Manchester. perfectly captures the energy, the heart, the soul, and the love that is pouring out of that arena in Manchester. Based on my own experience attending a concert from Styles, this picture does a fantastic job of really placing us in the room with Styles and his band, inducing goosebumps and dancing from beginning to end.
Styles promised that this album will make you dance when listening to it, and the album succeeds in doing that. So, I was definitely curious about how Styles was going to bring this new album to the stage, especially with how much energy he has brought to the stage with his previous tours. In terms of Styles as a performer, he is simply one of the best on-stage presences in music today. Whether seeing his concert in-person or on this new Netflix special, there is no doubt that he absolutely loves what he does, and watching him perform beautifully shows how much the art of music means to him. The entire concert is high-energy and tons of fun, performing new dance songs like "Ready, Steady, Go!" to classic oldies like "Watermelon Sugar". Styles brings something that every single person watching can love and appreciate, and he has such a fun time performing from beginning to end.
The camera operators working on stage and capturing moments in the audience do a fantastic job of immersing the viewer into this moment of time that Styles is on stage and commanding the attention of the audience. There is no doubt that there is this huge community that Styles has created that has banded together and made a safe space for the fans of his music and message, and you can feel the love pouring out of all of them throughout this concert. The main aspect of a concert movie that is incredibly important to me is if the film really immerses us into that night with the rest of the audience, and I think they do that perfectly here.
On top of that, they bring us onto the stage with Styles and his band, giving us a glimpse into what they see and how they might feel performing for his huge audience. We get to see all of the different instruments they play throughout the songs and how all of these performers have such great chemistry and a wonderful camaraderie together. What is evident throughout this picture is that they all love the music they are making, and it's incredibly hard to not have a good time throughout the entire hour-and-a-half concert. Some performers just go through the motions to give the audience a good time that they paid for; Styles and his band, on the other hand, love every single aspect of the music and their performance that you know this may be one of the best concerts you have ever seen.
Styles, his band, and the filmmakers here captured something special in that room. When Styles walks off that stage and we follow him back to the green room after he finished performing Aperture for the second time during the encore, we capture the euphoric feelings he has after giving the concert his all for over an hour. His body is practically vibrating from the excitement and the emotions on his face say it all. In a world that is terrifying and unfair, there are these moments in life that are special and that we will remember forever. For the audience and Styles himself, this is one of those moments, and we, as the audience, are lucky enough to have that glimpse into that beautiful moment.
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