My experience seeing Louis Tomlinson on his “How Did We Get Here?” Tour in Washington DC.

On July 7th, 2026, I had the pleasure of seeing Louis Tomlinson on his “How Did We Get Here?” Tour in Washington DC. Before we dive into the experience, let’s do a quick refresh. Louis Tomlinson released his third studio recorded album, “How Did I Get Here?” on January 23rd, 2026. This album is both a mix of mellow sounds and that rock noise we’re used to from Louis. Now, onto the tour experience!

On this tour, Louis has made all of his general admission tickets randomized numbers to ensure fans have a safe, enjoyable experience rather than camping for hours on end for a good view. Everyone has an equal chance for any number. The venue I saw this tour in, The Anthem, is almost entirely general admission save for very few seated tickets. The venue had a capacity of 6,500 people, and somehow, my group was lucky enough to get numbers 17, 18, and 19– my specific number being 18. The window to get your numbers was open from 11am to 2:30pm. After me and my party received our numbers, we walked around the venue to see what we could do to kill our time. The area around this venue had many different areas to sit and restaurants to eat at, so that was very good.

At 4:30pm, we were instructed to go back to the venue so that we could be lined up in number order. The venue allocated an hour to organize everybody into their groups properly. That one hour was very hectic for both fans and venue staff, but other than that, it was really easy. Luckily, being such an early number, my group and I were able to beat some rain that started just as the first 100 people were being sent into the venue.

The process of getting people into the venue was, again, a little hectic. The randomized numbers didn’t really do much at that point, as once you entered the doors, the workers ushered you to wherever was open. My group and I got separated for a moment there, but made it back together right at the barricade… my first true barricade show!

Now, it was time for the actual performances. This specific show had two openers before Louis Tomlinson took the stage. The first opener, Picture Parlour, came on at 7:00 on the dot. The Manchester duo of Katherine Parlour and Ella Risi did not come to play around. The set had very rock and roll heavy tones, and their music was something I’m still thinking of after the show. They’re great performers, and I absolutely see them blowing up in the next year or so.

After Picture Parlour’s set came The Beaches. One thing Louis did was hire exclusively female bands to open for him on this tour… we love seeing this! The Beaches came on at around 7:45 and performed ten songs. These girls were so fun, and their music was, dare I say, the most danceable of the night. They played their two biggest songs right now– Blame Brett, their opening song on their debut album, and Edge of the Earth. Edge of the Earth was featured in season two of Amazon Prime’s recent hit show, Off Campus. The girls mention that at their live shows, and even used a clip from it at their All Things Go performance earlier this year. I’d say I also see them blowing up in the next year, but honestly, they’re already there.

Now came the moment everyone was waiting for all night… Louis Tomlinson’s performance! Louis came on at 9:00pm. His intro includes a radio segment from a fan in the venue, and ours was from a lovely young lady that, by the sounds of it, was named Brooklynn. (It was hard to tell over the screaming around me… whoops!) Moments after the intro, Louis jumps straight into singing the lead single off of his new album, Lemonade. At the last chorus of this song, a large amount of yellow confetti fell from the roof… the last of this confetti was still falling down until about halfway through his set. Louis stayed at the main top area of the stage for the first few songs before walking down to the end of his catwalk. The first song Louis performed on his catwalk was a cover of One Direction’s Night Changes. At this point, Louis' photographer came up to me and my party, taking a picture of us… this picture would end up in his DC photo dump the next day!

Louis played a 20 song setlist, and kept the energy up the whole time. There were so many laughs and so many tears all throughout the show, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. For me, the biggest highlight of this show had to be the barricade walk during Palaces. Louis closes the show with this song, and at the end, he runs off stage to run across the barricade– jumping on some of the platforms. I, somehow, ended my lucky streak by being right in front of Louis for one of his barricade jumps. During this, Louis held my hand! It was such a crazy experience.

Overall the How Did We Get Here tour is absolutely one that won’t be forgotten. Louis does a wonderful job at putting on a show and connecting with his fans. If given the chance, you should absolutely go see this show!