Live Review: Camila Cabello @ Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne

Last night on a bitterly cold Melbourne evening, Camila Cabello brought that Cuban heat to Margaret Court Arena with her Yours, C tour. The show marked Cabello’s first-ever concert in Australia and is one of only two shows, with Sydney lucky to receive the second show on Saturday (30 August) at the Hordern Pavilion.

The stage was set with a band on one wing, a keyboard on the other and a large white cube in the centre of the stage. As the show progressed, the initial large cube was stripped away to create mini scenes, and before long, it revealed a white frame with sheer curtains, eventually just the frame itself.

A relatively simple structure and three female backup dancers and three male backup dancers in black, Cabello proved that her strong vocals and hypnotising appearance were all that was needed for this packed 23-song show.

Cabello opened with Shameless, with the stage bathed in a red light as she climbed the stairs within the cube and emerged from the top. Her dancers moved at the pace of the slower, sultry lyrics and then sped up as the song did, their black outfits making Cabello’s white corset and sheer skirt stand out on stage. After just two songs, one of Cabello’s white velvet boots broke, and so she was barefoot for the majority of the show, seemingly unfazed.

Quiet, an undeniably poppy song, was performed by Cabello at the very edge of the stage. She stopped the song halfway through to kneel down and asked the audience to be as still and quiet as possible - and just like that, Margaret Court Arena was absolutely silent as she sang a few lines of the song, promising us that we could make a lot of sound soon.

Cabello’s audience interaction was almost constant and never felt scripted. Twice, she walked offstage and greeted those at the front of the audience as the instrumentals took over, providing special moments with her fans. 

It’s hard to put a label on Cabello, and so categorising her show may just limit the incredible spectacle that the packed arena was treated to last night. The mixed audience of young girls, couples, and girl gangs was led through the many iterations of Cabello’s album, with the show divided into parts. A large screen behind the stage showed Cabello with pre-recorded messages, as if she were writing a letter and signing off with ‘Yours, C’. 

On multiple occasions, Cabello mentioned how happy she was to finally be in Australia, and what “legends” we were. Her packed setlist, fun energy and audience engagement certainly validated that sentiment. Hilariously, it was the humble Tim Tam that got repeated airtime, which became a running joke throughout the show.

This was bolstered by the Tim Tam posts the Cuban star posted to Instagram in the lead-up to the show. Immediately after the show ended, she was gifted with a custom Tim Tam pack that featured ‘Camila’ instead of ‘Tim Tam’ on the pack.

The highlight of the show was when a white piano was wheeled onto the stage, and Cabello performed two songs, accompanied only by her vocals and piano.

This pared-back moment felt like a beautiful, intimate serenade. B.O.A.T. was the first of the two songs, a heartfelt breakup song standing for ‘Best of all time’. As the song began, a cluster of yellow lights emerged from the front of the audience, and my immediate assumption was that this was somehow organised by the tour promoters.

But no, Cabello asked the audience how they had done this and organised it, and she was told it was Alicia, a long-term fan of Cabello who went to most shows and had been a fan “since we were both girls and now as we have turned into women”. 

The second song performed at the piano was announced as, “Because I’m in Australia, I want to do an Australian cover”. As she prepared herself, you could see and hear the ripple of punters whispering and conspiring to guess which iconic Australian song it would be, with Cabello choosing Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. The conviction of this ballad had us wondering if the legacy of this song actually belonged to Cabello, with the audience singing every word back to her.

The fanfare surrounding Cabello was quite unbelievable, and at one stage, Cabello picked someone from the crowd to join her on stage, and the punter was dressed exactly like Cabello, having seen her tour outfit and recreating it for the night.

The Colombian fan was absolutely beside herself that Cabello was having trouble understanding her, and so they switched to Spanish to converse. Cabello informed us that the VIP ticket-holder fan had travelled to Australia for the show. 

The last three songs of the show were an explosive flurry of energy, with Havana receiving a standing ovation, with all fans united in their familiarity with the song that arguably got Cabello to where she is today. It followed with Don’t Go Yet, a Cuban-inspired song which was unbelievably infectious and even had the back-up dancers converted from hip-hop style to joyful and Salsa-style.

Before playing the final song of the show, Cabello said, “I have stuffed my face with Tim Tams. I have done a Tim Tam Slam. We flew our butts here, and you have been the best audience ever. Actually, you have been better than the best. You have been…”

“Supersonic. In your orbit. And I’m bad. Diabolic.” I LUV IT begins, and everyone is on their feet, understanding that this is the last song and the most recent piece of Cabello's work they have seen. The repetitive chorus creates a chanting effect throughout the arena, with Cabello jumping up and down alongside her dancers, calling each of them by name as they bow to an appreciative crowd. 

The Yours, C tour has included Europe, the UK, Asia and South America this year, following Cabello’s fourth studio album C, XOXO, being released in 2024. Tickets are still available for Sydney’s August 30 show at Hordern Pavilion.