Shawn Mendes: The Tour – Concert Review

Shawn Mendes proofed a while ago that he is the new Justin Bieber. With only 20 years he has ruled the world with his music, he is the new prince of pop. Shawn counts three number one albums and 11 Billboard Hot 100 chart entries in the US. I have always followed his musical journey but I never went to his concert before. But with the release of his third studio album, I can say that I became a fan and I didn’t want to miss him on this tour.

Shawn Mendes came with his The Tour to Zurich on the 31^st of March and thanks to ABC Production I had the privilege to see him live. The doors opened at 6 p.m. and I went late on purpose since there were only seats for everyone. It’s very important for Shawn that nobody has to suffer in the crowd while standing, especially teenage girls that’s why he provides only seats at his concerts. At 7 p.m. I was inside of Hallenstadion. The first thing I could notice was queues everywhere: for bathrooms, food and merch. I always find it annoying when women use men’s room, I feel so uncomfortable. However, his merch was appealing and also expensive but the fans probably have saved their money already months ago for this day. I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t want to queue and wait so long.

I loved my seat, it was in the middle on the right side of the stadium, so I had a great view of both of his stages. A giant circle-shaped monitor was used above the main stage, which transmitted him during the concert and also showed colorful visuals during some songs. Next to the b-stage, there was a giant rose. Shawn Mendes used roses a lot as a symbol during this era. For his album and single covers, for his merch and in his music videos, blooming roses and flowers everywhere. They have created a romantic and chill atmosphere for the concert. It felt like being in a large living room with Shawn and having a private concert since everyone was sitting. A special feature of the night was that a young woman had distributed white watches without any explanation at the entrance. I realized when the concert started that these were lights, which glowed synchronously. We all felt more united in the crowd with this effect. It was the first concert I went on where an artist did this and I really enjoyed it. The audience was glowing in different color combinations during every song.

Support Act

Alessia Cara was Shawn’s special guest and she was a great choice in my opinion. But I also would have expected from her to have her own European headlining tour. I mean she has released two albums by now and she has won a Grammy last year. But I must say her second studio album really disappointed me; she really went for another direction sonically. However, Alessia started her performance at 7.30 p.m. with her breakthrough single Here and continued with her other singles Wild Things and Growing Pains. Then she sang songs of her new album which I didn’t enjoy, due to the fact that I don’t like them. Looking to the crowd it was noticeable that Alessia couldn’t maintain the high energy in the crowd with these songs. But she had a great final with her other two chart hits Scars to Your Beautiful and Stay a collaboration with the young DJ Zedd. I was singing along to both of these songs and I realized how much I actually love her older songs. She left the stage at 8.10 p.m.

Shawn Mendes Performance

Shawn Mendes went on stage at 8.30 p.m. and you can’t imagine how much all the girls were screaming. A colorful video was played then it got dark and suddenly he was standing there behind the mic singing Lost In Japan it was a magical moment. I wasn’t expecting it but he continued his first set with his hit singles There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back and Nervous it was definitely an energetic start to the night. During Nervous Shawn managed to shock me. I haven’t realized before how good he can hit the high notes and sing falsetto until I saw him doing it live with this song. His vocals during Nervous were phenomenal. Afterward, he spoke to the crowd for the first time and thanked everyone for coming and told us that his fans are the best part of his tour. During Stitches everyone was singing along, it’s definitely a fan favorite. For Mutual, he played a long intro and an outro at the piano before he performed the entire song standing. The next song was Bad Reputation and the innocent stage got a dark atmosphere with a lot of fog and dimmed lights. After performing Never Be Alone at the piano he left the main stage.

There was a short break and everyone in the audience turned themselves towards the b-stage as if they knew that he would continue the concert from there. The giant rose started to decrease and a piano appeared on the stage. And I just went with the flow and was ready to record his first performance there. He ran through the crowd and jumped to the b-stage and took his place at the piano. Before playing a medley of A Little Too Much and Because I Had You, he said that Zurich is the land of the most beautiful people in the world. Both ballads count to my favorite songs by him. He continued his set with playing an acoustic piano version of his first single Life Of The Party. He made everyone sing along, it was one of the highlights of the night. The last song he performed on the b-stage was Like To Be You this time with an acoustic guitar. Even though this song is rather new the fans could still sing along, I wasn’t expecting it. He really has the best fans in the world, they probably know all the words to every song by heart.

Shawn came back to the main stage with his hit single Treat You Better one of my favorites. And then he slowed down with Where Were You In The Morning Baby? and a romantic sunset view was projected in the giant circle. Afterward, it was time for his most powerful anthem Youth, he explained the meaning of the word youth for him in this song. He said that he isn’t singing about the period between childhood and adult age. He actually means freedom and peace with it. Then he randomly started to play a guitar riff and proofed us how fast he can play it with making us clap faster and faster. For the final of his concert, he saved his two hit singles Mercy and In My Blood. He didn’t have an encore. But during In My Blood, confetti was falling everywhere he also went down to the crowd and gave some high fives and hugs. The concert was over and it just felt like a dream.

During the concert, he wore a black tank-top and black pants he looked like a rock star but he is still a sweet cute pop star. Shawn’s stage presence was professional you could see that he is experienced with big crowds. I wish he would have changed his outfit at least once or twice; nobody would have mind to see him in suit and tie. There were also no dancers just him and his band, it was more like an intimate acoustic session than a usual pop concert. And I loved every second of it. I missed this type of concerts, I really felt like a big family in the audience.

I think it was an unforgettable romantic night for all of his fans. You should definitely catch him on tour if you can. I also want to thank ABC-Production Switzerland for making this magical night possible. Thank you for reading so far please share this post with a fan, thank you.

I also wrote an album review on his self-titled third studio album, you can check it out here: Shawn Mendes: Album Review

Most of the pictures I used in the blog post were taken by Kaul Photographs

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