In her first solo headline London show on Tuesday (June 12), Camila Cabello shone like the brightest star in the pop universe as she owned the stage, captivated her audience and performed as if her life depended on it, proving she has what it takes to be a superstar.
The show stopping affair was kicked off by four piece New Zealand boy band ‘Drax Project’ who instantly injected some energy into the sold out Brixton crowd with a mixture of Jazz and R and B infused pop material taken from their recently released EP ‘Noon’. They also performed well known covers with an electrifying live spin such as Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’ and a saxophone heavy version of Justin Timberlake’s hit ‘Cry Me A River’.
With the crowd in good spirit filled with die-hard fans, Camila could have stood there and received praise for just performing their favourite songs. Instead she decided to distinguish who she was an artist whilst incorporating a visionary experience with pre-recorded video interludes, light changes, dance breaks, and mood changes.
Sporting an all-black ensemble under simple yet effective spot lights, Camila entered the stage performing her most recent hit and tour titled song ‘Never Be The Same’ before lightening the mood with the sassy ‘She Loves Control’. She later performed the playful album track ‘Inside Out’ which incorporated an upbeat dance break, which was followed by a solo version of her Machine Gun Kelly collaboration ‘Bad Things’ and a soft take on Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’.
Transitioning through her eclectic set list, the former Fifth Harmony star dived into a deeper part of her set where she shared some of her more personal experiences as she gave an emotional speech and highlighted the importance of self love before performing an unreleased song ‘Scar Tissues’. Prior to delivering a spine tingling rendition of ‘In The Dark’ where the music stopped, the lights went down and all you could see was a 21 year old superstar singing for her life with no backing vocals, instruments or theatrics, truly showing she is an expert in her craft as she captured the attention of every single audience member.
For her first London show, the pop princess continued to pull out all the stops as she brought the tempo up again when she invited day one fans onto the stage to help her jam out to hit ‘Real Friends’, leading into a huge surprise when rising star Anne-Marie ran onto the stage to perform a special duet of Anne’s 2017 hit ‘Rockabye’.
Thanks for having me tonight you beautiful soul @Camila_Cabello . Thank you everyone at @O2academybrix for screaming and singing with me so loud ????? can’t wait to be back at @o2academybrix in November ?????? pic.twitter.com/5FCYBa3pHw
— ?ANNE-MARIE? (@AnneMarie) June 12, 2018
Before leaving fans for the night, Camila returned to the stage for a sass fuelled performance of her recently released Pharrell assisted summer anthem ‘Sangria Wine’. She then paid homage to her Cuban roots as she belted out her worldwide smash ‘Havana’ in front of her sunset stage before thanking the audience and strutting off the stage seemingly very pleased.
Finally, Camila’s first headline London show is definitely one for the books. There was a perfect balance between intimate, emotional and heart wrenching segments intertwined with her biggest hits, dance breaks and an all-round good vibe topped off with an infectious smile as she beamed from the start to the of end of her set. The impressive showcase however, did include a few interludes where an outfit change wouldn’t have gone amiss and the inclusion of ‘Crying In The Club’ and ‘I Have Questions’ would have been appreciated to truly complete the otherwise perfect evening. We hope to see Camila make her return to the UK soon rather than later to perform in larger venues so more people can witness how special she is.
