Mendes show Saturday; Wild Adventures adds two concerts

VALDOSTA — Fans could say Shawn Mendes’s teen idol status sprouted on the Vine.

That’s the Vine social media video-sharing application.

Mendes, now 16, became the youngest artist to debut in the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100 when his 2014 hit “Life of the Party” showed up at No. 24 on July 12. But before he became a singing sensation, Mendes caught the attention of Island Records through his six-second posts on the Vine app, which garnered millions of views.

Mendes’s talent shone through on the videos he made of himself covering snippets of other artists’ songs, and after signing with Island he’s become a bona fide star … one whose full-length performances have proved equally as popular as the Vine posts.

Since breaking out with “Life of the Party,” Mendes has won a Teen Choice Award and has seen his debut album “Handwritten” climb to the top of the charts in the United States, his native Canada and Norway. The 16-year-old’s “The Shawn Mendes EP” also reached the Top 10 in both the U.S. and Canada.

And, earlier this week, Mendes garnered the second-most nominations for the Canadian MuchMusic Video Awards with four.

Acknowledged as a rising talent on stage, Mendes will showcase such fan favorites as “Life,” the certified-platinum “Something Big,” “Show You” and “A Little Too Much” Saturday as part of Wild Aventures Theme Park’s 2015 All-Star Concert series. Joining Mendes for his tour stop in Valdosta will be Heffron Drive.

While fans of all musical genres have found plenty to like in the first few weeks of the Wild Adventures concert series, country music lovers got a double dose of good news last week when Wild Adventures announced the addition of two shows: country queen LeAnn Rimes on June 13 and husband-wife two-time Academy of Country Music Vocal Duo of the Year Thompson Square on July 18.

Rimes, the youngest-ever Grammy winner, has sold more than 44 million albums in her career and has had 42 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Thompson Square has had three of its hits top country charts in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

All shows in the Wild Adventure concert series start at 8 p.m.

Wild Adventures, which offers dozens of thrill rides, hundreds of animal exhibits and the summer heat-cooling Splash Island Water Park, is now open seven days a week. As an added bonus, starting June 5 Wild Adventures will offer Splash Island Nights. The water park will remain open until 10 p.m. Fridays in June and July, and visitors can enjoy fun games or take part in a dance party featuring the region’s hottest DJs. A bottomless buffet will also be available for purchase.

Information about any Wild Adventures shows or activities is available at www.WildAdventures.com or by calling (229) 219-7080.