Live Review: Shawn Mendes at the O2, London

The songs were very modern-pop, featuring a lot of the rhythms you might expect from the singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran types out there and very well put together choruses. From what I could make out, Shawn writes and sings about very relatable issues for young people (love and relationships seemed to be a very strong theme running throughout all his material) and really knows how to throw certain parts to the crowd to get them singing and engaged. Having never heard of him before, I was immediately impressed, he looked like he had been performing at this level for years. I got young John Mayer vibes early on, but as he played more material, he did stand out from those who came before. It’s no surprise he is doing so well!

Flanked by a capable band, Shawn took very little time between songs in the first half of the set, going straight into more tunes and keeping the audience constantly engaged. They jumped at every call to action he gave, giving the biggest cheer of the night when he thanked them as it was his last show of the tour. After that I finally recognised a song, ‘Stitches’, which I must have heard on the radio. Fleshed out for the arena, it got the biggest constant reaction of any song so far. He brought out more piano driven songs to add variety to the later set, along with some impressive stage visuals. It was very apparent that Shawn has a great mastery of melodies and great hooks, as every song had great melodic pop that most of the people in the audience seemed to know.

Best Songs?

My standout song of the night was ‘Bad Reputation’, by far. Great piano introduction, he made great use of the stage with smoke and darker visuals, utilising a ring of lights that dropped down behind him. The songs itself had the most interesting melody of any of his material, along with the most variety and range. Clearly a lot of thought went into this show, so he won himself a fan for that song alone! Beyond that, he used the Orb to sneak to the middle of the venue, playing a few songs on piano and guitar before using the same trick and plenty of swirling lights to get back on stage. Very clever use of what they had, remind me of Prince’s stage at the O2.

A lot of pop acts get knocked by older fans due to the similarity between so many of their songs, and I have to admit that I did feel this on the later half of the set. Shawn it a gifted performer and songwriter in his own right, so the highlights of the night really made up for the lull. It was evident that I wasn’t the target audience here, and I was still having a great time, so that should a testament to how well put together the show was. Plenty more sing-along moments followed, with the tried and true ‘phone lights’ out in full force, the millennial version of lighters. He made use of the orb one last time before the finale, this time using some of his own speech over music.

Final Thoughts

He was on piano for the second song that I recognised ‘Treat You Better’ (not as bad as I thought I would be!) which screaming fans eagerly sang along to, before bringing the light ring back and switching to a full band version, causing a furore and closing the night in spectacular fashion. I left very surprised at how much I liked it, it was such a well put together show and Shawn’s charisma and performance really left a great impression on me. I am not going to give it a rating as you can’t experience exactly that event for yourself, but would definitely recommend you checking out his music, and if you really like it, go to see him live.

Set List Below;

1. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back
2. Lights On
3. I Don’t Even Know Your Name
4. The Weight
5. A Little Too Much
6. Stitches
7. Bad Reputation
8. Ruin
9. Castle on the Hill (Ed Sheeran Cover)
10. Life of the Party
11. Three Empty Words
12. Patience
13. Roses
14. No Promises
15. Understand
16. Don’t Be a Fool
17. Mercy
18. Never Be Alone
19. Treat You Better