NEW YORK – Amid a sea of witches, Waldos and Statues of Liberty, Harry Styles exuberantly closed out his “Together, Together” residency on Halloween night.
The singer’s 10-week, 30-show stay at Madison Square Garden culminated in his much-anticipated “Harryween” concert Oct. 31, a fan-favorite tradition through the years. Styles took the stage in a giant rat costume carrying an equally enormous slice of pizza, a nod to the iconic Pizza Rat meme.
“No, it’s not hot. It’s pretty cold actually,” Styles joked of his heavy, furry ensemble. “I thought I’d use this momentous point in my career to dress like a rodent. Feels fitting, really.”
Over the two-hour show, Styles and his
band vivaciously ran through his solo hits including “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” and “Watermelon Sugar,” as well as exhilarating new songs “Season 2 Weight Loss” and “Aperture,” taken from his latest album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.” The crowd also roared when he unfurled a dynamic cover of the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” in the evening’s homestretch.
Mid-concert, Styles changed into a more sensible white tee and tiny black shorts, but with his rat tail and ears still intact. The charismatic heartthrob occasionally bantered with fans in the audience, at one point chatting up a young woman dressed as a bunny.
“You have a sign that says: ‘My crush just got engaged,’ ” said Styles, 32, who is heavily rumored to be engaged to his partner of just over a year, Zoë Kravitz. “Sounds like you missed the boat on that one! You should have told him. Absolutely heartbreaking. Well, sometimes people get engaged!”
At the end of the night, the former One Direction member became overwhelmed with emotion, crying as he looked out at the ecstatic crowd of 20,000 people and noting that he first played the venue when he was 18. Moments before performing his rousing “Sign of the Times,” Styles was greeted by New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, who presented the Grammy winner with a banner commemorating his sold-out residency.
“I just wanted to be here and congratulate you on your 30th night,” Brunson said. “This is my third show – yes, my third show. He’s only been to one game, so he has some catching up to do!”
Styles effusively bowed to the star NBA player, before joking: “Just make a note: We're almost as tall as each other."
The singer's “Together, Together” jaunt includes a North American stadium trek next spring. To close out the night, he sincerely thanked his band and crew, as well as his family and therapist, all of whom were in the audience. (“We’ll unpack the rat thing later,” Styles quipped.)
“Thank you for showing up and dressing up and making us feel so loved every night here at New York,” Styles said. “You are so wonderful to us. ... If you've been listening for one year, five years, 10 years, 16 years – you’ve changed my life.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harry Styles gets a surprise from Jalen Brunson at 'Harryween' show
