Live Review: Shawn Mendes, Dan & Shay

Country duo Dan & Shay get us up is up on our feet early with their uplifting anthems. A digital voiceover asks us to wave our phone torches in the air to illuminate the venue for their hit Speechless. To finish, they perform their Justin Bieber collab 10,000 Hours, which they only put out a few weeks ago.

The wristbands we were given upon entering the venue light up with flashing colours as Shawn Mendes appears on stage. He launches straight into Lost In Japan and his fans' screaming fills the room. Beaming, Mendes says he has three shows here in Melbourne - "There’s not many places in the world where I get to do that, so thank you." A lot of thought has gone into creating this show – not just the music, lights and cameras, but also the way Mendes connects with the audience and makes them feel part of the whole experience. He plays an older hit, Stitches, and the audience almost sings over the top of him in their excitement. He moves over to the piano on stage and teases a bit of his latest collaboration with Camila Cabello, Señorita, performed as a stripped-down solo snippet that transitions into Mutual.

Shawn Mendes. Photos by Andrew Briscoe.

Mendes moves over to a second stage that’s been set up further into the arena beneath a giant rose structure glittering above the stadium. Taking a seat at another piano, he dedicates this part of his set to all the fans that have stuck by him since his first album, Handwritten. He goes on to perform a medley of older songs, a cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and an acoustic version of his duet with Julia Michaels, Like To Be You. 

Mendes runs back to the main stage, appearing sans sleeves to show off his tattoos, and rocks out on his guitar for fan favourite Treat You Better. He channels his inner Prince with an impressive high-pitched falsetto on the groove-inducing Particular Taste, and lets us know that Ed Sheeran co-write Fallin’ All In You is a very special song to him - it was the first he wrote for his self-titled album. Mendes stamps his foot throughout, asking the audience to clap along faster and faster as the momentum picks up.

Shawn Mendes. Photos by Andrew Briscoe.

Mendes has done several collaborations over the years, but he says the one that stands out for him is last year's Youth, with Khalid. “I’m not talking about a word that describes how old we are but the feeling of freedom and happiness that comes with it,” he says. 

Mendes performs a flawless and emotional cover of Coldplay's Fix You before an epic finale of In My Blood, which sees him nail a perfectly timed stage-dive just as smoke cannons go off and confetti explodes over the audience.