Is Harry Styles’ Demonstrating the future of Concert Tours?

May 30, 2022 by George Laughlin

For those not in-the-know, Harry Styles is one of the biggest artists in pop music, having launched a successful solo career after exploding as part of the One Direction phenomenon. And while his albums have reached the top of the charts and his singles have received tons of radio airplay, streams and play on YouTube, it’s his new tour that I’d like to talk about.

This fall in the US he’s not doing the traditional 30-50 city tour. He’s visiting 4. Yes, four. New York, Chicago, Austin and LA. He’ll have 15 shows in NYC, 5 in Austin, 5 in Chicago and 15 in LA. Why does this make perfect sense?

Logistics. Concerts today are more of an experience than ever. Setting up and taking down these intricate stages take longer and have more technology than ever. You can do bigger and better things if you give yourself more than a few hour and leave it set up for days. And it’s easier to add additional dates if tickets sell out.

Popularity. Not every artist is big enough that fans will fly to see them. Harry is. Taylor Swift is. Bruno Mars is. Adele is. You’ve seen some of those doing a Vegas residency, but do you really want to bring your kids to Vegas? Or fly from the east coast to Vegas? Having regional concerts also makes it a short drive for a large portion of the country.

Negotiation. I don’t have any insider information here, but I guarantee if you rent Madison Square Garden for a month, you’ll get a deal versus a 1 or 2 night show. And the label would be smart to also work with cities to get incentives to bring these shows as it will drive tourism, hotel rooms, and sales tax revenue.

Rest. Many people think being on tour is a fun party for the artist every night. They work for 90 minutes, everyone loves them and they make a ton of money. But if you ask any artist and they will all tell you, it’s exhausting. Having to travel every day and not sleeping in your own bed is something that gets old, fast. (I’m assuming Harry has places in the NYC and LA area).

Will you see more stars doing this type of tour? Time will tell. But I’m betting this will be the case.