Niall Horan and the Virtue of Jumbotrons
Last night I took my older daughter, 15, to Manchester to see Niall Horan, former One Direction boy-bander turned compelling solo artist, truly a cut above at age 30. It’s been a while for me with big arena shows, so I’ll say this: The routine use of Jumbotrons is a great advance. It changes the nature of the gig. The performer is both onstage and on camera, able to switch between perspectives at will. In the case of handsome young Niall, with a house packed to the rafters with screaming girls and women, we saw a virtuoso working it. With just a quick look, a nod toward the camera at just the right moment, he could make the whole place explode. I missed out on Taylor Swift this time around, but I’m sure she’s amazing at it too.
I saw Judas Priest at MSG on the Screaming for Vengeance tour, early ’80s. No Jumbotrons. But I remember so clearly the first glimpse of Rob Halford: clad in black leather on a riser off to the side, a narrow beam of spotlight directly on him, clutching the mic close and practically scowling the first verse of “Electric Eye” with an air of cold and muted menace that cut right through me. Would’ve loved that on the big screens.
It’s always so thrilling, that initial reveal to the audience, that moment when we get to see the artists we love face to face. Niall’s big reveal was all the greater thanks to those Jumbotrons: the curtain rises, the smoke and low light obscures the band at first, and then bam: the light changes, the smoke clears and there he is, looking straight at the camera, i.e., looking directly at each and every one of us in the house. Glowing, excited, he meets the sold-out crowd with a simple HELLO! The place goes insane, obviously. And I see my daughter just consumed with absolute and overwhelming joy, so authentic and real, moving beyond words, from the first note to the last. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so close to nearly Beatles-at-Shea levels of adoration, and it is something to behold.
Oh, and really strong band, polished and versatile as hell. Niall played a Strat or acoustic most of the time, piano on one tune. He did all the songs I’d heard countless times in the car thanks to the kiddo, and I came to appreciate anew the real variety in his writing. He was genuinely blown away by the Manchester crowd, called it easily a Top 5 show of the tour (which was entering its final week). He seemed humble as could be, a sweetheart, far from a manufactured pop artist — someone who loves music and doesn’t take his extraordinary success at all for granted.
