The 'Treat You Better' hitmaker will help bring back the classic acoustic music show from downtown Los Angeles in September.
- Aug 19, 2017
AceShowbiz - MTV is confirmed to bring back its classic "Unplugged" series. Shawn Mendes is announced as the first artist to appear on the revamped show. He will perform in the first episode from downtown Los Angeles' Theater at Ace Hotel. It is scheduled to air on September 8.
" 'Let's take it to cool locations' was the thought," MTV's exec Amani Duncan explains to Variety. "Like where the artist played their first major show, or maybe they choose a location to make a pro-social statement, or it's, 'I always wanted to play Carnegie Hall.' "
Mendes's setlist is still kept under wraps, but the 19-year-old star has released two albums "Handwritten" in 2015 and "Illuminate" in 2016. He is nominated for Best Pop Video at this year's MTV Video Music Awards for his hit single "Treat You Better".
He is expected to treat fans to stripped-down versions of his songs like musicians usually did on the show in the past. "We've been working our asses off just trying to figure out the most beautiful way to play these songs in a smaller, stripped-down way that still feels as impactful," he says. "I feel like if I can do this right, then it will be a moment for me - where people can really understand and see me as a musician and a singer, and where I'm coming from."
"People come to my shows not really knowing what to expect, and they leave experiencing a real rock-pop concert. We're playing 100|percent| of the time. To be able to film that and put it out to the people is exciting," he adds.
"MTV Unplugged" debuted in 1989 and last aired in 2009. It features the likes of Nirvana, Jay-Z, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Miley Cyrus, Tony Bennett, Mariah Carey, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne and Adele, but Mendes loves Pearl Jam's 1992 session the most. "It wasn't so much about the commercial, showman side of it; It was really about the music," the young singer says.
