Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 14,803
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No fancy costumes. No fast-moving backup dancers. No fantasy action sequences.
None of the common trappings of modern, mega-budget pop shows had any place at One Direction's MetLife show on Monday.
This may have been the cutie-pie fivesome's biggest tour to date — moving from last year's shows at 20,000-seat arenas to 50,000-capacity venues like MetLife (for two nights, no less). But even in this looming setting the guys stuck to the classic K.I.S.S. acronym — Keep it simple, stupid.
Any repressive government searching for a fresh method of torture should consider exposing their victims to these girls in full shriek.
Small wonder the sound of the crowd sometimes threatened to overwhelm the performers. That made sense, given the essential teen-idol dynamic. It pivots on projection: The girls bring the defining fantasy. The group merely serves as generic vessels to receive it.
Such an exchange makes O.D.'s casual approach both appropriate and charming. From the start, back in 2010, the fivesome stood out by defying the rigidly choreographed, uniformly dressed approach of '90s boy bands like 'N Sync or the Backstreet Boys. At MetLife, they were still wandering around the stage, rather than dancing on it, and they were clad in wear meant to look either rumpled or at least unfussed with.
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The audience also retains its special love for Harry Styles. Though each of the guys made the girls yell hard enough to go hoarse, the reaction to Harry threatened to bring on as serious case of strep.
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Slé, Harry, Slé.
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The U.K. sensation isn't a conventional boy band. Yes, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson do actually sing, often quite well. However, they don't really do any of the other things boy bands do -- no synchronized dance moves, no actual harmonies, no instrument-playing, aside from Horan's guitarwork. Oh, wait, they do one other thing boy bands do: They make girls scream.
The screaming at MetLife Stadium Monday night was basically a show unto itself, often as palpable as the booming bass. "You're so good at screaming," Styles encouraged the crowd at one point. (One Direction returns for another show Tuesday night.)
However, it seems clear that the lads are getting ready for a time when the screaming won't come merely from walking down a long catwalk and pointing and waving.
The middle of their 105-minute set was packed with poppy, guitar-driven songs like "Right Now," "Happily" and their hit, "Little Things," that could prove to be their musical sweet spot.
As fun and fizzy as "One Thing" and "Kiss You" are, with their shout-along choruses, the more rock-oriented songs have a better chance of aging gracefully.
Not that the 20-somethings really have anything to worry about for a while, especially when the crowd can carry entire songs on their own.
"This is my favorite show of the tour so far," said Payne, to a huge ovation that showed how believable the band still is.
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A mess.
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Queens!
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