On the first day of Harry Styles’ Together, Together tour in Amsterdam, the Dutch city felt fizzy. About to pop. I didn’t have to look too far for some of the 50,000 fans who would later descend on the Johan Cruijff Arena—night one of 10 in Amsterdam, totaling 67 shows that Styles will play across seven cities worldwide promoting Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally: after Amsterdam, there’s London, New York, Mexico City, São Paulo, Melbourne, and Sydney.
For me, it started at London’s St. Pancras station, while waiting in line for the Eurostar: backpacks with Styles’ visage through various eras stitched onto them, baby blue and lavender Pleasing hoodies and sweats. A group plowed by in sequin cowboy hats, each carrying their own talismans, ancient artefacts—different iterations of One Direction tote bags. The train station lounge is where you’ll see what became known as the “Eras effect” in action—music tourism data shows that 1 in music fans will travel internationally to see their favorite artists. Last time I was there, traveling to Paris for the first of Taylor Swift’s European dates, it was much the same: sundresses and glittery co-ords, chevron-style fringe, cowboy boots. Later this year, Celine Dion’s flamboyantly dressed fans will make the same speedy train journeys to her residency in Paris, and in 2027, Olivia Rodrigo fans in their Y2K-coded styles.
Once off at Amsterdam Centraal, many marched straight to Styles’ PleasingLand pop-up. A queue snaked down the block, and voices chattered in American and British-accented English as much as Dutch, French, and Italian. People emerged already wriggling into the merch they nabbed: primary-colored t-shirts with slogans like “Respect your mother!” and cinnamon buns on the chest. Styles’ stylist Harry Lambert stopped by, which incited a (gentle, polite) frenzy for photos. Even my hotel—the sleek and chic Pulitzer Amsterdam, with its charming Golden age Canal houses and stylish restaurant, Jansz—had Harry fever. I heard young women strategizing over omelettes for where to procure more face glitter ahead of the show, and “Aperture” seemed to be on rotation in the main bar—or heavily requested.
Despite a mist of rain, people began to gather at the stadium in the early afternoon, eager to hear the pop star soundcheck. Queues for more merch and hot dogs alternated between people in more cowboy hats and ties, the latter referencing Styles’ proclivity for a statement neck accessory. Fashion was expressive: colorful and textured, fans leaned into the sartorial sensibilities Styles has founded with Lambert, and anything Alessandro Michele-coded. Feathers and fringe were abundant.
There was a real excitement for Styles’ first tour support act, Swedish pop icon Robyn. (On the train to the arena, fans started up a rag-tag sing-song of “Dancing On My Own.”) When Robyn took to the stage shortly after doors, the crowd lit up for new tunes like “Dopamine” and the classic “Call Your Girlfriend.” The sun peeked through the stadium roof, and Robyn—dressed in glittering Dries Van Noten, gliding down the gargantuan stage—got die-hard popheads and the young and curious moving. (Fans old and new have a chance to see more of her grand return to the popshere on her Euro and stateside headline Sexistential tour later this year.)
Bang on time, Styles—wearing custom Celine and a floral necktie of his own—hit the stage to a high-pitched cacophony of squeals. Welcoming the crowd to the tour, he joked that playing the first show gave him the feeling you get when you’re young, unsure if anyone is going to come to your birthday party. He got another rippling wave of screams back. Halfway through the show, Styles engaged in some more crowdwork, asking the audience where they’ve come from: are they Amsterdam residents, or from elsewhere? The cheers decreed a very international crowd. Investigating further, Styles called out fans from Switzerland and Scotland—and led the arena in a happy birthday chant for one half of an “adorable” couple. He donned one of the many (many, many) cowboy hats thrown at his feet, tipped its white feathered brim, and cast it back into the sea of limbs. Dancing laps of the stage and cycling through new album hitters and fan favorites, he gave an emotional thank you to the strangers who danced with him over the last couple of years and encouraged everyone there to do the same.
