Shawn Mendes: The Tour 2019

16th April 2019
at The O2 Arena, London.

Help me, it's like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
No medicine is strong enough
Someone help me
I'm crawling in my skin
Sometimes I feel like giving up
But I just can't
It isn't in my blood...

On Tuesday my friends and I headed to London for an unforgettable evening. We were about to see Shawn Mendes' first night at The O2 Arena!

When we got to The O2 there was a merchandise truck selling Shawn's products, but what was equally cool was the flower wall displayed either side. The flower wall was filled with pretty pink and red roses and was very popular with fans taking photos, myself included...(right)

Once inside The O2, my friends and I had some food at one of the many restaurants, which was very scrumptious. We did indeed eat a lot. Then after we had filled our stomachs we headed to Sky Backstage, an event space for Sky customers to get early access into the arena and enjoy pre-concert fun, food and drinks. Inside Sky Backstage you head upstairs into the main room where they had facilities in which guests could have their photo taken, their nails painted and makeup or glitter put on their face.
 Further into the room was the drinks bar and just past that was food service. For the night's event The O2 were promoting recyclable cups. At an additional charge (regardless of what drink you order) you were given a plastic cup with which you could reuse again and again throughout the night, when you were finished with the drink you could either keep the cup or return it and receive the deposit back. At the Sky Backstage bar they also had two drinks, a cocktail and a mocktail,  named after two of Shawn Mendes' songs, in honour of his performance of the night. I had a drink called In My Blood...I appreciated the pun.

Then as the hours began to creep towards opening act time we made our way to our seats in the arena. Alessia Cara was the opening act for the tour. Also a Canadian singer-songwriter, like Shawn Mendes, Cara rose to fame with her single Scars To Your Beautiful which helped find her collaborations with Logic, Troye Sivan and Zedd, where on the night she performed Zedd's collab of Stay which was a fab upbeat song to get you ready for the rest of the night. Alessia Cara also famously collaborated with Disney and sung How Far I'll Go outside of the movie Moana (2016); Cara performed this on the night of the concert and had everyone in the crowd singing along. (Moana is amazing). Alessia Cara had a really upbeat vibe to her performance and sung lyrics with powerful and heartfelt messages, her voice is incredible and she played guitar fantastically.





After the amazing show from Alessia Cara it was time for Shawn Mendes! First I must discuss his show design. As you can see from the photo (right) there were two stages, the main stage and the B-stage. On the B-stage was a rose flower that grew in height as Mendes opened the show. What was equally as awesome was that the flower lit up and would change colours or flash depending on the song and the tempo. Having the flower in the centre of the arena made for an impressive display of light alongside the flash on phones and the wristbands.

The wristbands were another cool aspect to the nights experience. As you entered the arena everyone was given a white wristband, when Mendes began his show the wristbands would light up and flash different colours depending on the song and pace of it. There was an amazing light performance featuring the flower and the crowd during the end of There's Nothing Holding Me Back.
 Shawn technically stole the idea of the flashing wristbands from Taylor Swift, which he has admitted. Taylor Swift used the wristband concept during her 1989 World Tour and again for her Reputation Tour. It's something that adds to the atmosphere of the concert and allows the performer to see their fans even in the dark.

Mendes had a really simple stage design, with simple artwork flowing across the back screen, focusing mainly on his band and performing to the crowd. Mendes put on an amazing performance, playing most of his popular songs and many from his most recent album Shawn Mendes. Some of my favourites included the opener Lost in Japan, Nervous and Like To Be You.

On his B-Stage he performed A Little Too Much and Life Of The Party from his first album Handwritten. I like the use of the B-Stage as the artist gets to connect with their audience from all aspects of the arena rather than being on a static stage at one end of the venue space.

Overall Shawn Mendes gave a fantastic performance on the night. Filled with upbeat songs and slow ballads. I loved every single song he performed, his voice was incredible and blew the crowd away with his high notes and ad-libs in his songs. He gave an amazing performance when playing the guitar and the piano throughout the night and making for an unforgettable evening. I'd definitely go see Shawn Mendes again.

Did anyone else see Shawn Mendes on tour? If so leave a comment down below of your favourite performance.

Enjoy x

For links to Alessia's and Shawn's websites click their names above, or click before for:
Alessia Cara's Youtube
Shawn Mendes' Youtube