Concert Review: Shawn Mendes illuminates Manchester Arena for the first time

Mihaela Iscru | 29th April 2017

Canadian singer-songwriter, Shawn Mendes (18) performed this Friday at Manchester Arena for his second show of the Illuminate World Tour.

The night started with the supporting act, James TW who will open the entire European tour. The British singer performed a few covers, but also some of his own songs, such as Ex and When You Love Someone.

However, the show kicked off properly when the man of the night, the one and only Shawn Mendes got on stage.  He got all the fans standing, screaming and singing along to the lyrics of his newly released song, There’s Nothing Holding Me Back.

If the first song had a completely different vibe from what we previously heard from the young Canadian, the next ones sounded more like what he usually sings – the soulful and emotional songs in which he puts all the passion he is capable of.

The playlist was a combination between his first album, Handwritten, and his second one, Illuminate. It balanced them in a harmonic way which probably left the fans with no voice as they sang along to every single lyric of each song.

Neither the interaction with the crowd missed. Mendes preferred to give a small speech about the reasons and the stories behind some of his songs, one of them being Understand.

”If someone tells you not to change, tell them I’m allowed to change and that’s just life. That doesn’t mean that changing is a bad thing.”

Also, the singer encouraged the crowd to sing along, especially during his song Ruin, saying that:

”If you wake up in the morning and you have no voice, I want it to be the reason right now. Is that alright?!” 

When it comes to production, it was mostly all about the singer and his band rather than an expensive and fancy one that would have only distracted the fans. It was simple yet complex, and totally eye-catching.

The performance ended with his track Treat You Better, proving that no one could have treated the crowd at Manchester Arena better than he did.

The singer did not hesitate and went to Twitter right after the show to express his appreciation in a tweet:

Last night, Shawn Mendes left his heart on the stage of Manchester Arena. We are pretty certain that fans cannot wait to hear more from this Canadian guy. Everyone is waiting for him to come back to Manchester which many hope that will happen soon.

If you missed him last night, make sure you do not miss his next concert as he and his shows are one of a kind.

Shawn Mendes is heading next to Germany for his third show of the Illuminate World Tour, but on June 1 and 2, he will perform at O2 Arena in London.

For more details about the tour dates you can check his official website or for more music go to his Youtube channel.