“Love on Tour:” Thoughts from the Students

Sofia Schnoke, Reporter

As the Austin winds blow away the remnants of feather boas, and the colorful decorations in the Moody Center are carted away, the memories will forever remain. Although the Austin concerts ended in early October and Harry Styles has moved on to other venues, Champion students who attended are still talking about it nearly two months later. Everything from ticket hassles to social media to overall starstruck syndrome made the Love on Tour experience one for the ages.

During the ticket sales, Styles fans had mixed feelings about the prices and the way Ticketmaster — the primary ticket-purchasing website — handled everything. Junior Ainsley Sierrah says she got pit tickets for $250 each, which is face value. However, not everybody had the same experience. 

“We paid $400,” said junior Rachel Simmons, who purchased her tickets in the upper bowl. “My mom was hesitant, but she knew I wanted to go.” 

To give some context: “pit” tickets are the closest to the stage with no seating, while upper bowls are the farthest away and considered the “nosebleeds.” Within the first 20 minutes of tickets being available online, face-value prices were gone, and the tickets went from $250 in the pit to $1000; that price-tag doesn’t include the sky-high prices of resale tickets bought in advance by scalpers. However, few fans said the price outweighs the astounding memories made.

Along with typical fans, celebrities and other well-known figures attended the Love on Tour concerts in Austin. Popular Texas-based social media creator Brittany Broski was in attendance; she and Harry have had many encounters before. Politician and El Paso city councilman Beto O’Rourke, best known for his bids for Texas governor and senator, also attended the show on the last night of concerts.

Radio stations such as Kiss FM Austin lined up to interview people live on air; junior Ceci Garcia was one of the few concertgoers selected. 

“I thought it was cool,” said Garcia. “Matt Holiday said he liked my outfit, so that boosted my ego.” Matt Holiday is an assistant program director for Kiss FM Austin.

For fans who couldn’t make it to the tour, plenty of fan-run social media accounts were busy posting and updating people far and wide about who was attending, what was happening, and — of course — what outfit Harry was wearing that night. The Moody Center had a billboard showing social media posts related to Love on Tour in front of the venue. However, online posts pale in comparison to hearing well-loved songs live.

“I liked when he sang “Kiwi” because when I first got tickets that’s all I could think about him singing,” said sophomore Serina Sharma. 

Junior Hannah Edwards also loved hearing the music live for the first time; her favorite moment was “hearing ‘Medicine’ live because — it’s ‘Medicine.’” “Medicine” is best-known for Styles’ live performances, notorious for being unreleased. 

Even though the Moody Center is no longer Harry’s House, he will always have a home in these fans’ hearts.

“It was the best night of my life; being there feels like home,” said Garcia.