When your sister asks if you want free pit tickets to Harry Styles “Love on Tour,” you first ask if she’s joking.

You then take no more than 30 minutes to pack your bag and head to LA.

My sister and I share the same birthday — no, we’re not twins — so her present to herself had been two nights at “Harry’s House” for the first two opening nights at Kia Forum in LA with her friend. Unfortunately for her friend, she got sick the night before her flight. Fortunately for me, she didn’t ask me to pay her for the tickets. I won’t say I’m the biggest Harry Styles fan, nor would I ever willingly pay what she and her friend did for a general admission ticket, no matter how much I love the artist. But, I also won’t turn down the opportunity to see him if asked. 

Because you have to wait in line for so long, I made sure to bring a book; I was not about to waste my phone battery reading digitally. I was also half-tempted to have a “Y/N” moment, but because we were so close to the barricade, there was barely room for my arms to not plaster to my chest, let alone to hold a whole book. I think he locked eyes with me, so I’m pretty sure that means we’re getting married, even though I’ve never heard of Harry Styles before — is he popular?

I’m not sure if I would have had as great of an experience if I wasn’t with the fiend herself. Did you guys know that Harry performs the same set for every date of his tour in the same area of the stage? Imagine my surprise when, while in line, she asked me, “Do we want to stand in the ‘Matilda’ corner or the ‘Satellite’ corner? Or, we could do the catwalk slide that he runs down.” And then, after analyzing my blank stare, she had the gall to be surprised I had no clue what she was talking about. The only thought in my mind was: why would you go to multiple nights of the same tour if it is the same exact show?

Because she was the expert here, I followed her advice and we went to the ‘Satellite’ corner. I kid you not, I was three heads away from the man himself. I was also perfectly lined up to a stage light with a vengeance. If you look at 80% of my videos, the light completely blocks him out when in front of me. And, I’m pretty sure in one of them, you can audibly hear me sigh because of it.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Styles. I feel like my “not like other girls” era started because of my sister’s love of One Direction, and only in private would I admit to listening to his music until the last few years (controversial, I know). Luckily, he is one of those artists that is so popular that I at least knew the chorus to 95% of the songs he sang. But, one song I go absolutely FERAL for is “Kiwi” — which just so happened to be his closing song. My sister knew the setlist front and back but had failed to mention this key piece of information.

I had scratched vocal chords for the next three days, and I fully put the responsibility on “Kiwi.”

The most disappointing thing about Harry Styles, to be honest, was his merch. For someone who I attribute so much of Gen Z fashion trends to, his merch did not produce a single “wow” moment. And for the price (come on, $50 for a dad cap???), it took me until the very end to break down and buy a sweater, which sported the one design that I liked. Capitalism won again, unfortunately.

“Love on Tour” is, and will probably always be, the most expensive concert I have ever gone to. However, spending our birthday weekend together is something my sister and I never get to do, and though we don’t share too many interests, my love of going to concerts and her love of seeing Harry Styles crashed together to create an unforgettable night. Harry has such a personality on stage, and it’s clear that he really cares about his fans.

But if you go to see him, plan to line up three hours before the time you originally decided on, and please, stop fueling the feather boa industry.

Photo via Rosabella Debty