One by one, the former One Direction members are embarking on solo tours to bring their new songs and albums to life.

While Niall Horan played in Chicago last winter for the 103.5 Kiss FM Jingle Ball, he only had his debut single, “This Town” at the time.

Even before releasing his first album, “Flicker,” Horan announced a “Flicker Sessions” tour, which turned into listening parties for fans, giving crowds an opportunity to hear the album before he debuted it to the world.

After releasing the album earlier this October, Horan switched from calling his concerts a listening party to a “thank you.”

Horan brought the thank you concert to the Rosemont Theatre Wednesday night. He told the audience last the show was a thank you for getting his album to number one in the country.  

I will say it was strange at first to see Horan on stage without his three (or four if you still count Zayn) bandmates. While it was odd, it was also awe-inspiring.

It’s easy for singers to hide behind their guitars and exclude themselves from the audience, I’ve seen it numerous times, but Horan did the opposite.

Horan performed his new music, a style incredibly different from the pop tunes One Direction released, with great confidence.

The first time I saw him on stage in 2013, he sang few solos on the stage. Each time I attended a One Direction concert after, in 2014 and 2015, his confidence and vocal strength grew, but Wednesday night he took it to a whole new level 

He had the audience screaming along to every lyric.

He brought the crowd to a complete silence and cellphone blackout during his most vulnerable song off the album, and I think that was the best part of the show. It felt like I was listening straight off the CD in my apartment, but obviously it was way better with him 20 feet away from me.

Horan proved himself as a solo artist in my eyes, not that I had any doubts. He performed every song off his album, and even a little throwback to the One Direction days.

If you want to check him out for yourself, he’s coming back to Chicago on the Flicker World Tour with special guest Maren Morris at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 26 at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. Tickets are availablehere.