Apart from the special show he performed with an orchestra in London, Harry Styles has played basically the same set since his “Together, Together” tour opened in Amsterdam 33 shows and nearly three months ago. But for the opening night of his unprecedented 30-show stand at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, he completely overhauled the set, drastically re-ordering the songs and performing one song publicly for the first time.
He also took a moment to pay brief but loving tribute to Dolly Parton, whose death was announced on Tuesday, pausing for a moment late in the show to say, “I just wanna give a proper thank you to all the musicians who have inspired me over the years — Dolly, we love you. Thank you so much.” Then her recording of “I Will Always Love You” — of course, her best-known song and one of the biggest hits in history when covered by Whitney Houston — played over the P.A. for a minute before he carried on the show.
It was clear from the show’s opening notes that this one would be different: Styles took the stage to “Dance No More,” replacing the previous opener “Are You Listening Yet?,” and then launched into “Carolina,” a deep from his solo debut, which he hadn’t performed live since that first solo tour. From there, songs that were previously played late in the set were performed early (and vice versa), and mid-set, “The Waiting Game” from his latest album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.,” got its live debut.
