Shawn Mendes dishes on the tour he’s bringing to Charlotte — and on being a crocodile
.jpg "Shawn Mendes performs onstage during the opening night of “Wonder: The World Tour” at Moda Center on June 27 in Portland, Oregon.")
Editor’s note: On the night of July 8, Shawn Mendes announced he would postpone his shows for the next three weeks, including the planned concert in Charlotte.
Shawn Mendes has come a long way since he appeared on stage at live-music club Amos’ Southend seven years ago, at age 16, to play for a crowd of just over 1,300 fans.
The best proof of that? When he returns to Charlotte later this month, for the first time since that 2015 show, the now-23-year-old pop star responsible for monster hits like “Treat You Better” and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” will need a venue that can hold more than 13,000 concertgoers this time.
Here are a few of the most interesting things we learned about Mendes during a recent teleconference with reporters to promote his upcoming “Wonder: The World Tour,” which supports his 2020 album “Wonder” and stops at Spectrum Center on July 22.
On the album that inspired the tour
While the rest of us were making viral pasta from TikTok and learning TikTok dances during the pandemic, Mendes was working on creating the “Wonder” album.
Mendes started working on the album right after his previous tour — “Shawn Mendes: The Tour,” which ended in December 2019. “I started making it and then the world went into pandemic, so it was definitely a fun time to make music, so I felt very called to write about things that really mattered to me.”
Specifically, he referred to his since-ended relationship with fellow pop star Camila Cabello, too, saying, “I was experiencing what it felt like to be in love for the first time, writing about that. And my process was really just trying to get as honest as possible and ... there was nowhere to go so I spent a lot of time just kind of writing in a journal and keeping track of all of kind of internal dialogue.”
On returning to touring
“It’s been a long time and playing live is something that’s really been a life force for me since I was 15,” he said. “So I’m excited to feel that energy again and connect with people and see the fans. But I can’t say that I don’t have a lot of also anxiety surrounding it, too, because ... I spent a lot of time at home, I’ve gotten used to spending time around friends and family, and road life is definitely a different thing.”
“I think I’m looking forward to really just connecting to the fans again,” he continued, “and connecting to music and connecting to this whole thing that was lost for a couple years, and finding that beauty, because it really is the most special thing I’ve ever experienced — and I’m excited to feel that again.”
On the vibe of the tour
“I really, with all my heart, think that it’s never been more beautiful,” he said.
As much as anything, Mendes hopes fans feel a sense of humanity at the end of the show, saying: “Do you know that feeling when you watch like a really good movie, and it just kind of touches on all the very, like, small, nuanced pieces of what it is to be human and it kind of touches the heart in all the right ways? That’s the kind of thing that I’m aiming for, is to kind of touch the heart in all the right ways and have people feel very just like connected to love and sadness and all of the heavy stuff and the great stuff in between.”
As for the setlist, he said, “It’s really just about an ebb and flow and bringing people up at the right moments, letting them come down to take a breath and feel something deep. And then bringing them back up to kind of peak euphoria and just letting that roller coaster.”
On his plans after the tour
For one, he said he’d like to find a home and put down roots. As for where that might be? “All my family’s in Toronto so I’d love obviously to be around them, but ... it’s just generally too cold in Toronto for my liking, so I really — I’m not sure yet. That’s the hard part for me.”
Also, he’d like to try his hand at acting. “I think I have an interest in what that would maybe be like for me,” he said.
Meanwhile, he will make his voice-acting debut in “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” — as the movie’s titular singing crocodile — when the animated film is released this fall. It’s based on a children’s book where a boy moves to New York City and meets a crocodile who loves singing, baths and caviar.
“Seeing my voice come through the face of a CGI crocodile was bizarre,” Mendes said. But “I think it’s gonna be something I’m so proud of, especially as I get older.”
Mendes said the movie will affect kids in a positive way, which was the main reason he agreed to star in it. The film is set to be released in theaters on Oct. 17.
‘Wonder: The World Tour’
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 22.
Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St.
Tickets: $39.50 and up; VIP packages range from $274 to $325.
Opener: Dermot Kennedy will be Mendes’ support act in Charlotte.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
