'Dance all night': Harry Styles kicks off World Tour in Amsterdam

Stéphanie HAMEL with rhinestones bejewelling her eyes and star-shaped clips in her hair, 23-year-old Mathea Ndawula was all set on Saturday for the first show of pop superstar Harry Styles' new world tour.

"My goal is to dance all night", said the psychology student, who had travelled from Mons in Belgium to Amsterdam early to secure a good spot.

The typical Dutch weather of lashing rain and wind failed to deter fans of the British star, who turned out in droves from all corners of Europe, huddling in ponchos covered with pink hearts.

Fans of British singer Harry Styles await outside the Johan Cruijff ArenA, the day before he begins his ten-day concert series and his world tour Together, Together Tour in Amsterdam on May 15, 2026. Ten years after One Direction split up, British singer Harry Styles, who is setting off on tour this May 16, 2026, in Amsterdam with his fourth album, has established himself as one of the world’s biggest pop stars, thanks to his stage presence and his embodiment of a new form of masculinity. - Netherlands OUT

The 32-year-old singer will perform for 10 nights at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, usually home to Dutch football giants Ajax, who have been displaced during the tour.

The residency-style "Together, Together" tour will take root in seven cities for a total of 67 concerts from May 16 to December 13.

A record 12 concerts are scheduled for London's Wembley Arena in June and New York's Madison Square Garden will host 30 shows at the end of August.

Styles burst onto the pop scene at the age of 16 from the talent show X-factor, later fronting boy band One Direction.

His new album "Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally" came out on March 6, four years after his last work "Harry's House", which won the Best Album award at the Grammys.

With a more electronic and experimental sound, although still unashamedly full of dance tracks, the new album is seen as taking a new trajectory.

- 'I'm so excited' -

"Every album is like a new chapter in his life, something different that he wants to do", said Jessica Denovan from Manchester in Britain, who has been a Harry Styles fan since One Direction days.

"We have no idea what the intro is going to be. It's all going to be different. I don't even know what to expect... I'm so excited", said the 21-year-old who works in a kindergarten.

In a rare interview given to New Zealand presenter Zane Lowe, Styles said a residency-style tour would offer fans improved staging for the show.

"I think it makes the show better. I think you can build something that doesn't have to travel every night", he said.

"I think there's something in this that allows me to stay in my life while I'm doing it and therefore... to take care of myself better which I think makes me better at doing the thing", he said.

For Tom Fusaz, a 22-year-old Belgian gardener, the switch to the residency format was an interesting gamble.

"It's a risk that he's taking, but I can't wait to see how it plays out live", Fusaz said. — AFP