Shawn Mendes returned to Boston after six years, blowing away the crowd with his talents, looks and songs from all albums during his “On The Road Again” tour at TD Garden on Sept. 25.
Mendes is only performing a handful of shows in North America and Boston was incredibly lucky to be the opening night to this leg of the tour. Mendes opened his performance with “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back,” setting the bar for an amazing show. The crowd jumped right into singing along enthusiastically and did not back down for the rest of the concert.
Something that is important during a concert is for the singer to not only sound good, but to engage with the crowd. Mendes made several speeches and comments periodically, making the crowd feel special as it added a uniquen
ess to this stop on the tour. The audience was swaying, jumping, cheering and flashing their lights throughout different parts of the show to give their support and embrace the excitement.
Mendes went into the crowd a few times, even hugging fans in between songs, which is something he does often at his concerts. This shows his emotional side, as well as how much he cares about his fans. The look on people’s faces when he hugged them was priceless and will definitely be a memory to treasure forever.
“I haven’t toured in the states in a while,” Mendes commented in his speech after playing “Lost in Japan.” “It’s a really known thing as musicians that if you go to South America they have really loud crowds, and if you go to Europe they are not as loud as South America but they are loud. It’s been said that the United States doesn’t have loud crowds, but you guys have given that a run for its money tonight.”
Throughout the night, Mendes took out his earpiece to take in the crowd and relish the feeling of being back on tour. He looked like he was really enjoying himself and appreciated every person there, emphasizing his compassionate character.
Mendes sang a few special songs including “It’ll Be Okay,” which he has never played in Boston before, and “Heavy,” which made its tour debut, sending chills through the crowd with his stunning vocals. A few other songs that made the night ever so memorable were “Mercy,” “Youth” and “Stitches.” These older songs had the audience reminiscing about Mendes past albums and his younger self.
However, towards the end of the night, the fire alarms went off during Mendes’ performance of “Why Why Why.” It led to a lot of confusion and contemplation of if the crowd should leave or not. Mendes stayed on stage and continued to sing through the song, commenting on how he will continue to sing until they tell him to leave, which encouraged the crowd to do the same. It is believed that the alarms were set off by the excessive amount of smoke from the sparklers that were set off previously and no one was harmed.
My favorite performance of the night was “In My Blood” which is a song that I have listened to for years and was his last song of the concert. Hearing this song live made me so happy and it was a perfect way to end the night. Accompanied by his piano playing, this performance made it extra special and even more beautiful.
The best part of this show was how pure and genuine Mendes’ smile was the entire performance. His smile constantly lit up the night and he continued to show his teeth through each song and moment which shows just how much fun he was having. This concert was more than just for his newest album, but for a walk down memory lane and to bring back the nostalgia and memories from the past, truly making it a wonderful night to remember.
