During the 90-minute show, the group delivered sugary songs from its two smash CDs with admirable pluck. It’s notable that the songs go for pure pop without a hint of the usual modern boy band nods to R&B or hip-hop.
One Direction, including Harry Styles (left), rocks Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The screams were louder than a jet engine, with a pitch higher than a banshee’s wail.
The particular volume and frequency of those shouts — the kind that can only be produced in the lungs of thousands of teenage girls — came in reaction to every single move by the boy band One Direction at their Madison Square Garden concert Monday.
The pitched response reflects an escalating mania behind the British group. Witness opening week sales of their second, and latest, CD, “Take Me Home,” which topped 540,000 copies after its debut 12 days ago, the third highest opening volley of the year.
The particular volume and frequency of those shouts — the kind that can only be produced in the lungs of thousands of teenage girls — came in reaction to every single move by the boy band One Direction at their Madison Square Garden concert Monday.
The pitched response reflects an escalating mania behind the British group. Witness opening week sales of their second, and latest, CD, “Take Me Home,” which topped 540,000 copies after its debut 12 days ago, the third highest opening volley of the year.
“This is my dream,” added the less favored Louis Tomlinson.
Despite the event’s significance, a certain casualness informed the staging. Unlike boy bands of the past, these guys aren’t rigidly choreographed in concert, an appealing aspect. They jump and stroll rather than dance. Likewise, their show wasn’t as elaborate as Justin Bieber’s extravaganza from a few weeks back.
The band's young fans went wild.
Their voices had more precision, a feat considering they had to
override all those yelps and wails. While they sing key parts of each
song in unison, every member gets solo lines in the verses, providing
yet another excuse for fans to yelp for their fave.In terms of pure vocal power, Harry and the group’s bad boy, Zayn Malik, had the most juice, though Liam Payne owns the sweetest falsetto. Naturally, Harry earned just as many squeals for his floppy hair, though he didn’t gild his popularity by making any mention of his reported new girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
They broke things up with a cover of “Teenage Dirtbag,” by the decade-old alterna-rock band Wheatus.
