Shawn Mendes
9th November 2019
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Alexis Brook. Feature photograph by Doug Peters.
Performing to a room filled to the brim with predominantly females under the age of twenty-five (as well as a few parents who looked a little tired, perhaps from attending U2 the night before), Shawn Mendes expressed an authentic appreciation for his fans and encouraged all in attendance last night at the sold out Spark Arena show to sing along on the final evening of this leg of his world tour.
It’s hard to believe that this young gentleman is only twenty-one years old; with an already impressive discography to his name that includes three studio albums and two EP’s he is certainly well established and yet it is obvious that there is also far much more to come from this skilled guitarist who is just as comfortable serenading his fans from behind a piano.
Opening the night was Ruel, who recently performed his own headliner EP launch at Shed 10 here in Auckland, however last night’s show would have clearly topped this achievement, Ruel both performing with an ease and maturity beyond his seventeen years. The audience screamed, danced and sung to every word. What a buzz it would be from the artists perspective to see thousands of phone lights waving from the floor to the ceiling while you sang. Clear favourites for the audience were ‘Painkiller’ the lead single from recent EP Free Time and ‘Younger’ from 2018’s debut EP Ready. This is an artist who is certainly on the rise.
Entering the arena, you couldn’t help but notice the large softly glowing rose in front of the sound desk and as Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ echoed through the air, the rose began to radiate as it slowly ascended to the ceiling. Cue fanatic shrieking as Shawn Mendes arrived on stage in an unbuttoned sleeveless shirt, guitar slung across his chest and launched into hit single ‘Lost in Japan’ from his self-titled third studio album. Oh, the noise. Happy noises of ear-piercing squeals of delight reverberated throughout as Pixmob wrist bands – which had been issued at the doors – lit up the room and pulsed along in time with the music as the audience danced their socks off.
Hit single after hit single followed; ‘There’s Nothing Holding Me Back’, ‘Nervous’ and one of my favourites ‘Stitches’, before Mendes moved to a piano for a stripped-down version of recent single ‘Señorita’. Great use of the circular big screen visual set up really complimented the show as it smoothly switched from display graphics to close-ups of Mendes and then to a camera located behind his shoulder to show us all what he was seeing, the fans wrist bands shimmering like stars in the sky.
The midway portion of the set was performed by Mendes from a secondary floor stage beneath the giant rose. I really appreciate when artists perform this kind of breakaway moment so that those in the far end seats have the opportunity to feel more connected; everyone in the back half of the arena visibly loving the chance to witness their idol more closely.
With a discography that leans heavily on power ballads and songs of heartache, Mendes tracks are rather popular with his demographic; the sunset glow of the wrist bands during ‘Where Were You In The Morning?’ a great moment of symbiotic audience/artist interaction. Empowering songs such as ‘Youth’ where Mendes spoke of taking control of the future and never giving up on making a difference, also resonated with all who were present.
Visually, both the stage and screen were very focused on Mendes as a solo artist, as in all fairness they should be, however it would have been nice to have had just a little bit more light on his band as for the majority of the evening they remained mere shadows in the dark. The overall sound mix was also a little unbalanced for my liking, though having said that, amongst all the audience hollering it certainly wasn’t distracting.
An encore consisting of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’, where Mendes placed a camera on top of the piano was a highlight of the evening for me. Confetti cannons and cheers of unadulterated joy finishing off the night as the last notes of ‘In My Blood’ filled the room.
Show over and the mass exodus of people began, many in the crowd a buzz as they made a final dash to the merchandise section hopeful to grab a t-shirt or one of the exclusive tour roses in memory of a magical night watching one of their favourite musicians.
Were you there at Spark Arena for this brilliant pop gig? Or have you seen Shawn Mendes perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Unfortunately Shawn Mendes was not allowing photographers on this leg of the tour, but to view a full gallery of his last New Zealand show you can click here.
Setlist:
- Lost in Japan
- There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
- Nervous
- Stitches
- Señorita / Mutual
- Bad Reputation
- Never Be Alone
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) [Whitney Houston cover]
- Because I Had You / A Little Too Much / Patience / When You’re Ready
- Life of the Party
- Like to Be You
- Ruin
- Treat You Better
- Particular Taste
- Where Were You in the Morning?
- Fallin’ All in You
- Youth
- If I Can’t Have You
- Why
- Mercy
- Fix You [Coldplay cover] [encore]
- In My Blood [encore]
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