Superstar Mendes feeds off adoring crowd

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This article was published 19/06/2019 (2606 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian pop superstar Shawn Mendes is currently bulldozing through the 104 dates on his fourth arena tour, yet somehow, Wednesday night was the first time he graced the stage at Bell MTS Place.

It’s been a long time coming for local Mendes fans, all 11,000 of them who coiled around the arena halls to purchase $50 T-shirts and all 11,000 of them who just about imploded with excitement when Mendes, 20, emerged on stage, guns a-blazin’ (literally, he had no sleeves), his signature mop of curly dark hair positioned perfectly.

Each attendee was given a bracelet when they entered Bell MTS Place, and as the opening notes of Lost in Japan welcomed Mendes, the bracelets illuminated all at once, and then in patterns; it was a stunning sight to see them come to life.

“How you guys doing out there tonight?” Mendes cooed into the microphone before flowing into the sexy Nervous, off of his newest album, 2018’s Shawn Mendes. Not that you could really hear what he said… you know, because of the screaming.

Mendes’ fans are a committed bunch; they are loud, they are engaged, they know every single word and belted them proudly, they stood from the first notes and remained on their feet for the whole show. It’s been a long time since a concert at Bell MTS Place has seen that kind of uninhibited enthusiasm and adoration, and it’s a weirdly wonderful thing to witness.

After blasting through an initial mainstage set that included his early hit Stitches, Mendes made his way to a B-stage near the back of the room and planted himself at a piano positioned underneath a giant glowing rose. Here he performed a sweet set by himself, starting with a snippet of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody and continuing with a medley of “songs he couldn’t fit into the set,” including Because I Had You, Patience, When You’re Ready and his first big hit, Life of the Party.

He then popped on a guitar (he went back and forth between the two instruments all night) for beautiful ballads Like to Be You and Ruin.

Often, B-stage sets are the best part of the night, and this was no exception. It gave Mendes a chance to chat to the crowd and show off his real musicianship and vocal chops.

Mendes is a strong live vocalist; he spends most of his time in the mellow, middle-toned sweet spot of his range, but shines more when he pushes into his falsetto and higher into his head voice, such as the seemingly Prince-inspired Particular Taste and the oh-so-smooth Where Were You In the Morning?, which saw him let loose more so than at any other point in the night.

He’s also a solid guitarist, taking a few opportunities throughout the night to sneak in short but impressive solos on both acoustic and electric, really jamming it out before an acoustic rendition of Youth, which ended with a surprisingly powerful speech encouraging his young fans to be the change they want to see.

Though Mendes kept things moving at a fairly good clip all night, after the initial wow-factor of the bracelets and the giant glowing rose, the show did drag a bit mid-set. He leaned on the get-the-crowd-to-sing-the-chorus tactic often, which is fun a few times, but not when it’s during every song, and even the exhaustive energy of the crowd seemed to wane slightly waiting for another big moment.

Of course that moment did come, during the homestretch of the 90-minute main set, when Mendes bounced into his newest single, If I Can’t Have You. It’s a relentlessly catchy track that is the definition of bop, and had fans literally jumping out of their seats. After closing out his set with the intense Mercy, Mendes returned for an encore of Fix You by Coldplay and a super-charged rendition of the anthemic In My Blood, a song that is infinitely more impactful in a live setting.

And if the ear-shattering ovation that ushered Mendes off stage is anything to go by, it’s safe to say he made a pretty good first impression.

Another young Canadian pop star — Alessia Cara — joined Mendes on this tour as his opening act. Almost exactly a month ago, Cara, 22, was in Winnipeg headlining her own show at the Burton Cummings Theatre, and she brought that same stage-owning confidence and energy. The pinstripe suit-clad Cara kicked off her 40-minute set with the slinky, R&B-infused Here and and the thumping, upbeat Wild Things; immediately the crowd on the floor were on there feet, singing all the words and screaming almost as loud for her as they would later for Mendes. 

Cara — who already has two albums under her belt and is the only Canadian to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist — is a solid live vocalist; her tracks are not easy to sing, packed with fast lyrics and tons of runs, but she handles them like an old pro. She threw in her song from the soundtrack to Disney’s Moana, How Far I’ll Go (which, of couse, resulted in a boistrous sing-along), and then slowed things down with the emotional ballad, Out of Love, which she prefaced with a sweet little chat about how universal the pain is when it comes to breakups. 

Cara was a great match for Mendes; she offered a different perspective and a different vibe, but completely complimented the headliner’s set. 

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel