I had been looking forward to seeing Shawn Mendes live for months before his tour started. I was initially planning to go to three shows, but one of the plans fell through. My friend was flying from out of state to see him with me, so we decided to enter a radio contest to win a Meet & Greet. Despite our best efforts, this didn’t work out. However, it didn’t take away from the extraordinary show that he put on for us all in Portland, Oregon. There were even technical difficulties, which led Shawn to play two songs on his acoustic guitar, which weren’t originally on the setlist. As far as I’m aware, no other show got to hear those songs, which makes the memory even more special.
After seeing the amazing performance that night, I was determined to see him live again. Luckily for me, I have a number of friends who live across the country, and one of them was willing to buy me a ticket for another show. The only condition was that I pay for the flight, which was almost twice as much as the ticket, so I was really glad to hear that she wouldn’t be making me pay her back for that. On top of the excitement I had knowing that I would see Shawn again, I was also elated to go on this trip because I had never been to Arizona before!
My friend and I planned a few activities to do while I was visiting, including seeing the Science Museum and lots of swimming. However, the highlight of the trip was the concert.
As my departure approached, my friend and I kept an eye out for more radio contests we could enter. She would try to call in on the radio, but no luck. There was one contest where all you had to do was locate a picture of Shawn on their website every day, and each time you found him you would gain another entry into the contest. By the end of the contest, I probably had entered five or six times, and so did my friend, thus we had 10-to-12 chances between us to win.
I was still in Oregon awaiting my flight to Phoenix when I got a phone call from an unknown number. Usually, I try to avoid answering these at all costs, knowing that they were most likely spam, but when this call showed up on my phone I had a gut feeling, so I answered.
“Hello, is this Kasey?” An unfamiliar voice spoke through the phone. “Yes,” I answered cautiously, “Who is this?”
The woman on the phone proceeded to tell me that I won their contest—I was going to meet Shawn Mendes! I gave her my information and my friend’s Arizona address, all while the shock settled in. As soon as I hung up, reality hit me.
“I’m gonna meet Shawn Mendes!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. My mom and sister replied with disbelief.
As soon as I finished explaining to them what had just happened, I realized I needed to call my friend to share the news. Unbeknownst to me, she was in the middle of a nap, hence her lack of response for the first three calls. She finally answered, half-awake as I screamed in her ear.
Fast forward to the day of the concert—the day I would meet Shawn Mendes. It was the beginning of July in the middle of Arizona, so as you can imagine, it was so hot. We had decided to get there approximately four in the evening, just to make sure we had enough time to sort everything out. We stood anxiously in line among a hundred-or-so people, who were all waiting for the same thing.
The line felt as if it moved centimeter by centimeter, agonizingly slow. All I could think about at the time was getting into the air-conditioned building. When we finally made it into the building, guess what we had to do? Yep, that’s right! Wait in another line. Seeing as we had won the Meet & Greet and didn’t actually pay for it, our group of contest winners was the last to enter. We walked through a curtain into a small room, where Shawn’s guitars and awards were on display. Ahead of us, only a few feet, was a red velvet curtain.
“Are you two together?” a security guard asked us.
“Yeah,” I answered.
He pulled back the curtain to reveal a tall brunette boy. Shawn-freaking-Mendes was right there in front of me. My friend hugged him first and I awkwardly leaned in to give him a half hug as well. Things went in a blur: all of a sudden we were posing, the camera flashed, and Shawn was starting to say goodbye. There was one thing I had told myself that I would do when I found out I was going to be meeting him, and I wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip through my fingers. “One more thing,” I said quickly to the smiling boy in front of me.
I proceeded to explain to him how I had seen him in Portland about a month ago and my best friend and I got tattoos to commemorate the amazing time we had. I spun around quickly to reveal my small rose tattoo, placed on the back of my ankle.
“Stunning,” he said to me.
We initiated goodbyes once more.
“Have fun tonight!”
“Have a good show!”
And just like that, it was over. It felt like all of that happened in 20 seconds, but also 20 minutes. My friend and I exchanged a glance of disbelief.
“He’s so cute!” My friend gushed. “His hands were so soft,” I laughed, “and he called my tattoo stunning!” As far as I was concerned in that moment, I could die at peace.
After the shock wore off, the ache of our feet became more apparent and our stomachs growled with hunger. The venue wasn’t open to the public yet, however, meaning that none of the vendors were open either. We had to wait another hour before we could eat. Not to worry, though—we had more lines to wait in! I was definitely getting something to mark this momentous day in my life, be it a shirt, a poster, or even a water bottle (Spoiler: it was all three).
By the time we finished purchasing our items, food vendors had begun to let people queue. I went to the first place I could find and ordered whatever my stomach desired. Of course, it was over-priced nachos and a water bottle. After I inhaled my food, we found a place to charge our phones and rest our feet. We weren’t allowed to go to our seats for another agonizing 30 minutes, so we took the opportunity to converse with other girls who had just met Shawn and share our experiences.
We finally got to our seats and waited for the show to start. Alessia Cara was the opener, and she was amazing. If you haven’t listened to her (you’ve probably heard her on the radio), I highly recommend. Once her set was finished, the lights dimmed and music began to play. Everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats with anticipation. He popped up from below the stage singing the opening lines to his song “Lost In Japan” and the arena went wild. Shawn does this thing at his shows where, for about five songs, he comes to the second stage. This “B-Stage” was closer to our seats, so I was looking forward to those songs especially. He made his way closer to us and began playing “Life Of The Party,” his first single.
My emotions were definitely high-strung as I thought about how far he’s come in such a small amount of time, and tears escaped my eyes. It seems dramatic, and it was, but I literally couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to.
For the remainder of the show, I sang along to every word with every piece of my heart, until the last chord of “In My Blood.” Confetti was flying in the air as I watched Shawn walk off stage. I knew in my heart that I would be seeing him again on his next tour, and most likely every tour after.