by Keana Ramirez-Acosta
The opening act, Alessia Cara, started her set with her first hit from 2015, ‘Here’. The crowd
loved it and she continued with another well-known song, ‘Wild Things’. By the time ‘Growing
Pains’ and ‘7 Days’ played the crowd died down and many people sat down. Some people
moved to stand in line for merchandise, but the crowd came alive again when she did her
rendition of ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from the Disney film Moana. After this song, the crowd died down
a bit again with her next two lesser-known songs ‘Out of Love’ and ‘Comfortable’. When she
played her song ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’, the crowd became livelier once again. She ended her
set with ‘Stay’ ft. Zedd, which had the crowd jumping and pumped for the rest of the show.
Alessia Cara was a very lively performer and used the stage well.
During the intermission, I could feel the tension and excitement in the air, as fans anticipated
Shawn Mendes. The crowd was already going crazy. By the time he came on stage, I didn’t think
the crowd could get any louder, but I was very much mistaken. The audience knew the words to
every single song that played. I am not sure how anyone was
able to have a conversation after
the concert because first off, my ears were ringing and second, my voice was hoarse as hell.
He started off the concert with his hit ‘Lost in Japan’ from his most recent self-titled album,
Shawn Mendes. This segued into his hit from Illuminate, ‘There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back’
which the crowd loved. This was followed by ‘Nervous’ from his self-titled album and then
‘Stiches’ from his first album Handwritten. Lucky for his LA fans, he played a small verse from
the number one hit, ‘Señorita’ ft. Camila Cabello, which was released on June 21 st . Sadly, any
concert prior to June 21 st didn’t get to hear this song live. He went on to sing his other
collaboration with Camila Cabello from 2015, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer,’ but it quickly
turned into a personal favorite of mine, ‘Mutual’. The show continued with a mix of songs from
all of his three albums.
There was a second stage at the venue (B-Stage) that featured a giant rose for the entirety of
the concert. When he transitioned to this stage, a piano came out from beneath the stage and
the rose was lowered a few feet. Although I didn’t score seats by the main stage, my seat was
right in front of the B-Stage, so I saw this performance up close. He dedicated this part of the
performance to fans that were unable to attend his other tours and therefore, only played
songs from his first two albums. He played some on the piano and then transitioned to doing
guitar solos. After playing seven different songs, he moved back to the main stage, but not
before throwing a guitar pick or two to some lucky fans.
Back on the main stage, he started with ‘Treat You Better’, an older hit, and then transitioned
into five songs from his latest album, including his hit single ‘If I Can’t Have You’. He finished
this set with ‘Mercy’ from his second album.
Lastly, the encore featured two songs: a cover of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ and Mendes’ radio hit, ‘In
My Blood’. During ‘In My Blood’, confetti fell from the ceiling and smoke effects filled the stage.
When the lights came up, fans quickly poured out of the venue and many lined up at the
merchandise table again. There were a considerable number of fans waiting near tour busses
hoping to get a glimpse of Shawn on his way out, but I didn’t stay to find out. The show was
filled with energy, not only by Shawn and his band, but also by the ambiance of the whole
venue. It was a lot of fun and the visuals were great. ‘Till next time, I’ll have ‘Señorita’ on
repeat.
Edited by Leni Milliken.