The Weeknd's ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow' is a laughable psychodrama that's not only bad, it's boring
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CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
The most memorable moments from the Weeknd's larger-than-life Toronto show
The Weeknd was in impeccable form on the second night of four sold-out tour stops at Toronto's Rogers Centre. Buoyed by the adoration of the 40,000-person crowd, Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, was beaming while he ran through a medley of songs from his extensive discography. Chants of "Abel, Abel, Abel!" rippled through the crowd at every song break, and the star stood smiling, basking in the love. Between Starboy and Heartless, the Weeknd took time to thank the audience for their fervent cheering: "That may have been a warmer welcome than yesterday…. We did the show last night and last night was loud but I got a big feeling about tonight, man." He continued, getting sentimental: "I just want to take in this moment right now. This has been a dream for a very long time, I used to come watch Blue Jays games here, it's crazy. Who knew a kid from Scarborough could do this, man, thank you guys so much." The Weeknd's After Hours 'til Dawn tour began in 2022, touching down in Toronto for two nights that year. The 2025 iteration includes the addition of new set pieces and new songs from his January album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, plus two extra nights of performances on Aug. 7 and 8. Hip-hop super producer Mike Dean kicked off the July 28 concert with a quick opening set, and came back to play keyboards and synthesizers during the Weeknd's marathon performance later in the night. Montreal DJ and producer Kaytranada played a mix of songs from across his three albums — 99.9%, Bubba and Timeless — plus his crowd-pleasing remixes of Janet Jackson's If and Chance the Rapper's All Night, before asking the crowd if they were "ready to see Abel." The Weeknd opened his set with The Abyss, a song featuring Lana Del Rey from his latest album. His voice filled the stadium as he emerged from behind veiled dancers, singing, "I tried to be something that I'll never be/ why waste another precious hour?/ Why waste another precious ounce?/ I'd rather leave somewhat of a legacy." The following two-hour-and-20-minute concert proved that he has no need to worry about what legacy he'll leave behind. Hometown highlights Toronto played a starring role in the show as the Weeknd performed directly below the looming CN Tower, which he referred to as one of the "centrepieces" of his elaborate set. The funky bassline of Sacrifice rang out as he sang, "I was born in a city/ where the winter nights don't ever sleep," and followed the lyric by yelling joyously, "You know what city that is!" He shouted out Toronto at every opportunity, and switched lyrics in a number of songs to turn the city itself into his love interest: "I can't lose you Toronto" on Lost in the Fire and "Every time I try to leave you Toronto/ you keep pulling me back" on Given Up on Me were just a couple of those moments. The Weeknd even used his captive audience to launch a petition to change the Rogers Centre back to its original name: "Is there any way to call this place the SkyDome again? We gotta call Mr. Rogers or whoever owns this place … do you agree with me, Toronto, or what?" The crowd cheered loudly in agreement and he replied, "All right, those are all official petition signatures. That's 40,000 signatures right there." Hits on hits After almost 15 years releasing music, the Weeknd has so many hits that any of them could've been the peak moment of his set. Early on in the show he performed Take My Breath, off 2022's Dawn FM, and as Mike Dean's synths and the bass reverberated through the crowd, the light-up bracelets that all attendees received upon entry were activated. Red-and-white lights raced along the catwalk as the Weeknd whipped himself into a frenzy. The audience was truly blinded by the lights during his performance of the record-breaking hit Blinding Lights, as the bracelets created a twinkling universe that swept across the stadium. Two of the Weeknd's oldest songs, throwbacks to his 2011 debut mixtape, came at the tail end of the set: High for This was a major sing-along moment, and the already revved-up crowd was rapturous at the first hint that House of Balloons was about to begin — the telltale "Ohs" and slinking bassline a beacon for the "OG XO fans." A feast for the eyes and ears The Weeknd's known for sounding exactly like the record during his live performances, and his vocal chops did not disappoint — but they're not the only impressive part of the show. World-building is just as important to him, which makes sense for an artist who pulls so much influence from film, and the set pieces and visuals were a feast for the eyes. The veiled dancers were decked out in a striking shade of red and wore gold masks, providing visual drama with their contemporary dance movements and formations. The Weeknd was also adorned in a gold mask of his own, this one with glowing silver eyes, and he wore a glittering black-and-gold cape that would put a wrestler to shame. Along with his dancers, he performed among the ruins of an imagined metropolis, the Empire State Building and the White House recognizable amid the wreckage. In the centre of the cross-shaped catwalk a golden statue rose to the heavens, her powerful stance evoking the goddesses Athena or Nike. The graphics on the screen behind him helped weave the narratives of his songs together, and included artwork resembling a Renaissance fresco, as well as a beheaded sculpture, a red-and-orange aurora — and the Weeknd falling into the abyss of a red sea. Taking a page from his former collaborators Daft Punk, the Weeknd created his own rave, leaning heavily on lasers that flooded the stadium and pulsated to the beat of the synths and drums. The pyrotechnics budget for the show had to be astronomical. The entire stadium was lit up in jumbo flames on no fewer than four occasions — it was like the Weeknd was bathed in a rain of fire — and fireworks burst from the Rogers Centre's open roof during Sacrifice and the final song, Moth to a Flame. The Weeknd closed the show by scream-singing a prolonged "Yes!" into his microphone, waving at the crowd as he walked off triumphantly. The final image the audience was left with was a projection of the CN Tower that faded to black, as the lights came back on.
Montreal Gazette
6 days ago
- Montreal Gazette
Dunlevy: The Weeknd brings the suspense, the heat and the hits in first of two massive Montreal concerts
Music By As global pop superstar The Weeknd's After Hours Til Dawn Tour touched down for the first of two nights at Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau on Thursday, it was easy to forget the Toronto artist's humble underground roots. When Abel Makkonen Tesfaye began releasing murky alt-R&B tracks under his oblique moniker in 2009, a buzz quickly built around the elusive singer-songwriter, who kept his identity secret. A series of three mixtapes followed in 2011, as the hype reached epic proportions. A year later, the triptych got a major-label re-release as its own album, Trilogy, and Tesfaye's career was launched into the stratosphere. Fast-forward a decade and change and he is one of the biggest pop acts on the planet, a visionary artist who has never strayed from his sinister tales of late-night excess — sex, drugs and post-soul for the wee hours — even as he has polished his act to reach the top of the pop charts with amazing consistency. Proof of the 35-year-old's contemporary dominance: he holds the record for the most songs to have been streamed over one billion times on Spotify; the number, according to a count earlier this year, is an astonishing 27. He played most of them Thursday in a triumphant, career-spanning and heat wave-steamed set of more than two hours before a sellout crowd of 45,000 deliriously joyful fans. Combined with Friday's repeat performance, Tesfaye will have drawn the equivalent of close to six Bell Centre crowds over two nights. It was a heckuva party. The massive gathering of diehard fans sang and danced along to nearly every song, further evidence of Tesfaye's extensive repertoire of infectious hits. But to begin, he brought suspense. A crew of more than two dozen dancers took the stage, clad in red headscarves and matching robes, their faces covered by futuristic silver masks, to a soundtrack of ominously swelling synths. From among them emerged a black-clad and also masked Tesfaye. The crowd roared. The song was The Abyss (featuring Lana Del Rey), off his new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow. He followed with another, the disco romp Wake Me Up, which samples from Michael Jackson's Thriller — a fitting tribute to one of the golden-voiced Tesfaye's primary influences. People were losing their minds, and we were just two songs in. The ante was upped with the title track from his 2016 album Starboy (with everyone shouting out the chorus, 'I'm a motherf---in' starboy') and Heartless, off 2020's After Hours. And then, drum roll ... with no shortage of dramatic buildup, he removed the mask. Parc Jean-Drapeau erupted. Tesfaye absorbed the moment, putting his palms together in a gesture of gratitude. Chants of 'olé olé olé!' rippled through the sea of people. 'Thank you so much,' Tesfaye said. 'I missed the Québec accent.' He sprinkled songs from each of his albums through the night, and people didn't stop singing and dancing. 'Tabarnac que c'est bon!' blurted a guy behind me, after a wildly exuberant rendition of the funk-soul smash Can't Feel My Face, off 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness. 'It's incredible — and it might be his last show.' (Tesfaye has teased that he may kill off the Weeknd persona after this tour.) The guy's name was Tom, 24 and originally from Moncton, N.B. He was having the time of his life, hanging out with a growing crew of new acquaintances. Among them was Tatiana Savage, 23. 'I came with a friend, but I'm leaving with 15 new friends,' she said. The hits kept coming. A rowdy rendition of the raunchy 2015 single Often and the anthemic ballad I Was Never There (punctuated with bursts of flames — like we needed more heat) were answered with spontaneous chants of 'The Weeknd! The Weeknd!' and more olés. 'Wow!' Tesfaye said. 'Wow, wow, wow. Merci Montréal. Je t'aime vraiment.' To top it all off, there were fireworks — first as part of the show, and then as backdrop, courtesy of Montreal's summer-long international fireworks competition while Tesfaye performed on a satellite stage in the middle of the crowd. 'It was a liberating experience,' said Australia native Goldie Hendley, 25, on the métro ride home. 'I've been listening to The Weeknd for years. But hearing him live and not only on my Bluetooth speaker was magical.' Her friend Maya Hann, 23, concurred: 'It was amazing.' Some fans — this critic's 17-year-old nephew included — were disappointed by the last-minute withdrawal of opening act Playboi Carti from the bill. In what feels like an unfortunate callback to a bygone era, the American rapper (who will rejoin the tour when it returns to the U.S.) didn't make it into Canada due to problems at the border. That also robbed The Weeknd of a dynamic interlude, as Carti had been joining him on stage mid-set to perform their recent collaborations Timeless and Rather Lie. Hometown DJ-producer hero Kaytranada filled in admirably, hyping up the crowd with a throwdown of his intricate, eminently groovy club jams.
Vancouver Sun
14-07-2025
- Vancouver Sun
The Weeknd plays two shows in Vancouver this week: Here's what to know before you go
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. The Weeknd brings his After Hours 'til. Dawn tour to Vancouver's B.C. Place on July 15 and 16. Tickets to the concert, set to start at 7 p.m., are at . Here's what you need to know about the concerts: Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Hurry Up Tomorrow was released on Jan. 31, 2025. The album is considered the final instalment in a trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours and 2022's Dawn FM. The Weeknd, Toronto-born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, has teased that this could be the final tour as his namesake alter ego. Hurry Up Tomorrow is the artist's sixth full-length album and was accompanied by a companion film of the same title. Directed by Trey Edward Shults, the movie starring The Weeknd, Jenny Ortega (Wednesday) and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) was poorly reviewed, with a 15 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes . (Tomatometer ratings of less than 60 per cent are considered 'rotten.') The Weeknd's set list is averaging 35 songs on the After Hours 'til. Dawn tour and features a selection of songs drawn from across his multiplatinum career. How Do I Make You Love Me? from Dawn FM is the most-performed song on the tour so far. The artist is also dropping a number of covers in the show, including Future's Low Life, Rosalía's La Fama and the Kendrick Lamar collaboration Pray for Me. To keep things on equal footing, he is also performing Drake's Crew Love. Whether he is continuing to include Ye's Hurricane and Diddy's Another One of Me will remain to be heard at the B.C. Place shows. The After Hours 'til. Dawn tour has been going since 2022. The Aug. 23, 2022, concert at B.C. Place was well-reviewed in The Vancouver Sun, noting the following: 'It's a big jump from Rogers Arena to B.C. Place and The Weeknd is one of those rare artists to make it. There isn't another Canadian act of the moment touring playing 50,000-plus seat arenas. 'The Toronto singer's mix of futuristic R&B, pure new wave and dance pop has completely captured contemporary music at the moment and last night the artist born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye showed off his Grammy-winning live chops to an adoring audience. 'Naturally, the stage set up for the After Hours 'til. Dawn Tour is a lavish one with no shortage of bells, whistles, explosions and more.' Expect more of the same from this edition of the tour. American rapper Playboi Carti, who has collaborated with The Weeknd on the tune Timeless, is one of the opening acts on the tour. The song is sitting around the No. 3 spot in the artist's eight-song warm-up sets. Houston rapper Mike Dean is also opening on The Weeknd's tour. Dean has co-written a number of popular tracks by The Weeknd, including Double Fantasy, Popular, Jealous Guy and others. His set is averaging 112 songs from across his career. Dean appeared with The Weeknd at his headlining set at Coachella in 2022. Expect The Weeknd to sell out both of the Vancouver concerts, which means more than 50,000 people attending each night. Be sure to give yourself ample time to get into the venue, find you seating and so on. Read our guide on what to know about B.C. Place. sderdeyn@ Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances.
