At Massey Hall, Shawn Mendes finds himself in comeback mode | Canada Voices

A big-time Canadian pop star played Toronto’s Massey Hall on Monday. In the business, it’s what’s known as an underplay – a concert in a much smaller venue than the ticket demand calls for, done for hype and promotional purposes.

Mostly young, female fans held smartphone cameras and shouted along to his songs, even the ones from a brand new album. The show was a feel-good event that often turned emotional, once even melodramatically so. The well-sculpted, routinely shirtless pop idol only stripped down to a white tank top. Perhaps it was chilly on stage.

He’s been away for a while. At the outset, he asked, “How you doing, Toronto?” Showbiz, 101. The fans were doing fine, and probably had a question of their own: How you doing, Shawn Mendes?

The Platinum-selling pride of Pickering, Ont., Mendes cancelled his 80-date world tour in 2022 after only seven concerts, to prioritize his mental health. In 2023, he reappeared to release the environmentally concerned charity single What the Hell Are We Dying For? The song title suggests an artist in reflective mode, or even existential crisis.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter explained he had “absolutely no idea” who he was at the time he had cancelled his tour and went on hiatus, and that he was unable to step into a recording studio “without falling into complete panic.”

His comeback album, his fifth LP and first in four years, is Shawn, a collection of mellow, acoustic expressions from an artist on the mend. The new material recalls the folk balladry of Mumford & Sons, marked by tender vulnerability mixed with crescendo swells. His show at Massey was the last on a short, intimate tour called “For Friends and Family Only.” The set list mostly consisted of songs from the new album.

Accompanied by a band that included a fiddler, Mendes began with That’s the Dream, a wispy, wistful up-tempo relationship song about broken promises. Afterward, he spoke about his mistake – the “trap” of believing that no one understood him, and that he felt he had to heal on his own. He then introduced another new song, Heavy, which he described as medicine.

Artists postponing concerts and cancelling tours for mental health reasons is not uncommon today. Those asking for a break this year include Chappell Roan and Slipknot singer Corey Taylor. American singer-songwriter Clairo postponed three Massey Hall concerts last month because of “extreme exhaustion,” and Dean Ween of the nineties rockers Ween also pulled the chute recently.

“Despite three great shows this summer,” the band wrote in a statement, “it’s become clear that touring and performing is too taxing on Deaner’s mental health to continue.”

The maxim “the show must go on” no longer holds sway in the music business. The acerbic singer-songwriter Father John Misty comments on the trend on his new album, Mahashmashana: “Mental health, there’s no higher virtue held in this crazy world, it’s more than a little bit absurd.”

Father John Misty’s point with Mental Health is that perhaps we’re all doing so well that the struggle with common day-to-day trials are heightened and confused for pathology rather than being seen as a part of healthy personal evolution. At Massey, Mendes spoke of his own difficulties: “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find the confidence to make music and get on stage again.”

Later, in a moment of conspicuous grief, Mendes dropped to his knees, seemingly overcome with emotion during the performance of Heart of Gold, about a friend who died. With the lyrics of The Mountain, he ambiguously addressed questions of his sexuality: “You can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mould.”

Mendes covered Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on a harmonium. Every generation deserves a definitive version of that classic. Mendes’s cohort is still looking.

The new album from Mendes has justifiably received warm reviews, but what is missing is a monster hit. The omission was all the more glaring when he performed his 2017 Top Ten single There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.

What’s holding Mendes back at the moment is his prolonged absence from the pop music game. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek once said that an artist can no longer release albums once every three to four years and think that it will be enough. In the time between 2020’s Wonder and this year’s Shawn, a generation of kids finished high school without a new record from Mendes.

All to say, Monday night’s underplay may well become the norm for him.