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Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- 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
- Entertainment
- 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.
San Francisco Chronicle
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Santa what? The Weeknd flubs Bay Area city name during Levi's Stadium concert
The Weeknd committed the ultimate Bay Area sin during the first of two Levi's Stadium shows in Santa Clara, mixing up the South Bay city with the name of a similar sounding Los Angeles County suburb. A TikTok clip of the Canadian artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, shows the 'Save Your Tears' singer attempting to shout out the Bay Area city in which he was performing on Tuesday, July 8. It has since gone viral, with local fans in the comment section poking fun at his blunder. 'In Santa Clarita,' he sings in the brief video, recorded during his performance of 'Baptized in Fear,' a song from his sixth studio album, 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' released in January. 'It's Santa Clara, not Santa Clarita,' an off-camera voice yells back, distinguishing the two cities, which are about 351 apart. As of Thursday, July 10, the video has been viewed more than 294,300 times and earned 26,700 likes. 'He was saying everything BUT Santa Clara,' one user commented, receiving more than 1,800 likes. Another joked that 'he seen an amusement park and got confused,' referring to California's Great America next to Levi's Stadium and Six Flags Magic Mountain located in Santa Clarita. The comment got nearly 4,000 likes. But he didn't totally forget where he was. A different TikTok user shared a slightly longer clip of the Weeknd's performance of the track, which shows the artist successfully referencing other Bay Area cities before the slip-up. 'I've been around the world, from San Francisco to San Jose,' he croons before accidentally name-dropping 'Santa Clarita.' Tesfaye also acknowledged other cities in the region during his Tuesday night performance, shouting out a few in between songs to hype up the crowd. 'Who's out here tonight,' he asked. 'We got San Francisco out here tonight — we got Frisco tonight? We got Oakland out here tonight? What's going on? Berkeley? San Jose?' The Weeknd isn't the only musician to get tripped up by Bay Area city names. Earlier in the night, rapper Playboi Carti called out 'San Fran' during his opening set, despite the city being an hour away. Thankfully, one TikTok user commented that Tesfaye correctly referred to the crowd as San Jose and Santa Clara for his final night at Levi's Stadium. (They added that Playboi Carti, on the other hand, still said San Francisco.) It's become common for artists to give the city in which they're performing special recognition during concerts, whether it be slipped into lyrics during a song — as the Weeknd attempted — or in between tracks. During Metallica 's recent stint at Levi's Stadium last month, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo performed a cover of Dionne Warwick's 'Do You Know the Way to San Jose.' Mick Jagger opted for a reference to the broader Silicon Valley during the Rolling Stones' Santa Clara show last summer, during which he joked about Waymos and the growing Bay Area crime rates. Beyoncé was appointed honorary mayor of Santa Clara for the day during her 'Renaissance' tour stop at Levi's Stadium in 2023. During her performance, the 'Cuff It' singer correctly named the city when addressing the crowd — an essential detail considering her official title.
Tatler Asia
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Mid-year review: the best pop albums of 2025
2. Lady Gaga's 'MAYHEM' Rating: 4/5 Release date: March 7, 2025 Why you should listen: Whether you like dancing or not, Lady Gaga's MAYHEM has all the right songs to fit your vibe. For happier and more carefree times, she offers tracks like Zombieboy , Garden of Eden and How Bad Do U Want Me . For more dramatic nights, there's Don't Call Tonight , Blade of Grass and the record-breaking Die With A Smile featuring Bruno Mars. Overall, the context of all the songs on her album reflects her maturity in songwriting. She has, in so far as artistic expression goes, achieved a level that most of her contemporaries have yet to reach: a well-translated storytelling that feels deeply personal yet universally relatable. Related : Tatler review: Is Lady Gaga's 'MAYHEM' an instant pop hit or slow-burner? 3. Addison Rae's 'Addison' Rating: 3/5 Release date: June 6, 2025 Why you should listen: You can count on Addison Rae's self-titled album Addison to turn any backseat moment into an intimate listening escapade. With chart-shattering standout Diet Pepsi and the irresistibly catchy Fame is a Gun , she masterfully blends R&B nostalgia with fresh pop vibes. 4. Lorde's 'Virgin' Rating: 3.5/5 Release date: June 27, 2025 Why you should listen: Every Lorde album signals a new chapter of our lives, and her 2025 album Virgin is no exception. The striking choice of cover art, paired with her evocative storytelling, sets the tone immediately. As ever, the music is beautifully-written, mixing her signature poetic lyricism with lines that hit close to home. Virgin is a compelling body of work that invites deep reflection and rewards repeated listens. It deftly brings together themes of heartbreak, growth and the navigation of adulthood. Read also : Unique Salonga: On music, artistry, 'Daisy' 5. Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco's 'I Said I Love You First' Rating: 2.5/5 Release date: March 21, 2025 Why you should listen: In their album I Said I Love You First , couple Selina Gomez and Benny Blanco deliver a polished alt-pop collaboration that both surprises and satisfies new and long-time fans. The tracks demonstrate an equal balance between new-found love and heartaches and the bittersweet complexities of growing with a partner. 6. The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Rating: 4/5 Release date: January 31, 2025 Why you should listen: Say what you will about The Weeknd, but his talent in crafting cohesive storytelling through music remains unmatched among his peers in the pop-R&B genre. Hurry Up Tomorrow , widely regarded as the final chapter in a trilogy that began with After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022), continues to build on his artistic evolution; the album is an ambitious, cohesive work that resonates deeply for fans and new listeners alike. 7. Miley Cyrus's 'Something Beautiful' Rating: 3.5/5 Release date: May 30, 2025 Why you should listen: With 13 standout tracks, Miley Cyrus' Something Beautiful delivers a work that is full of life. The album's charm lies in its cinematic layers, which make the listening experience more immersive Something Beautiful is arguably one of the singer's most daring projects yet, painting a portrait of the artist she wants us to see: serious, smart and effortlessly fun. More from Tatler: The Rise of P-pop: How today's generation of artists pushed Filipino music forward 8. Marina's 'Princess of Power' Rating: 3/5 Release date: June 6, 2025 Why you should listen: Marina (formerly Marina and The Diamonds) is here to stay, and she has an album to prove it. With leading tracks like Buttefly and Cuntissimo , the pop artist once again demonstrates her fearless approach to songwriting. The production has proudly released a lush, layered blend of synth and electro pop that tackles feminism, artistic autonomy and Marina's self-reclamation. Her vocals remain as rich and full as ever on the album, making it clear that it's still her, only now with greater confidence. 9. Alessia Cara's 'Love & Hyperbole' Rating: 4/5 Release date: February 14, 2025 Why you should listen: Many of Alessia Cara's fans have grown alongside her, so it's no surprise that her music maintains that same balance: a first-listen banger with a rhythm that invites reflection. In her 2025 album Love & Hyperbole , she thoughtfully confronts the effects of ageing, much like she did in 2015 with Know-It-All . NOW READ Ely Buendia is a 'Method Adaptor' Why Juan Karlos will never leave music behind The Odd Corner: Kean Cipriano on why backing up the 'odd creatures' matters in today's OPM industry
San Francisco Chronicle
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Just when the Weeknd broke Levi's Stadium records, he shed his persona
Just five songs into his set on a cool night at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Abel Tesfaye — better known to the world as The Weeknd — removed his chrome mask, a symbolic moment that set the tone for the night. His face beamed with pride as the record-breaking sold-out crowd recognized the human being behind more than a decade of dark, hedonistic hits. 'That was a warm welcome,' Tesfaye replied to the shower of screams on Tuesday, July 8, the first of his two back-to-back concerts in the Bay Area. It was also a farewell. Tesfaye has all but confirmed that he wants to turn the page on his Weeknd name and persona while still pursuing music and expanding his creative portfolio, and now he's doing it in the most public and flamboyant way possible. His evolution has been playing out through his 'After Hours Till Dawn' tour, a trek that has stretched three years and multiple continents, including a previous August 2022 visit to Levi's Stadium. In commemoration of his latest album trilogy — 'After Hours,' 'Dawn FM' and 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' — this tour truly feels like a going-away party to the Weeknd era. To memorialize this transition, the home of the 49ers was turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Dystopian props ran from end zone to end zone: a backdrop of toppled buildings, catwalks jutting from the main stage that formed a glowing cross, and a giant silver statue by sci-fi illustrator Hajime Sorayama that served as sentry and visual anchor. The Weeknd's prime collaborator Mike Dean played an eerie, eclectic 30-minute instrumental set to open the show, switching from keyboards, guitar and saxophone. Another mysterious and enigmatic figure, Playboi Carti, provided main support. The crowd fed off the rapper's chaotic, free-spirited aura for the 30 minutes he was on, even though he committed multiple fouls: leaving off 'Magnolia,' sporadically rapping over his own vocal track, cupping the mic, and top of the list, addressing the Santa Clara crowd as 'San Fran.' (Playboi Carti later joined the Weeknd for spirited romps through 'Timeless' and 'Rather Lie.') The Weeknd fared much better with his GPS, frequently shouting out San Jose, Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. Draped in bejeweled robes that glistened with every move, Tesfaye opened his show like a messianic figure, arms spread wide, singing 'The Abyss' flanked by 30 dancers dressed in blood-red tunics. It was like a religious gathering — a funeral, perhaps — with a hymnal filled with The Weeknd's biggest hits and key collaborations. Rather than dividing the concert into acts, it was grouped by vibes. The next four songs served as a bemasked sampling from 2016 to the present ('Wake Me Up,' 'Star Boy', 'After Hours,' 'Heartless') then moved to more upbeat tempos and nihilistic themes. The live band gave songs like his 2015 hit 'Can't Feel My Face' extra traction, while allowing songs to seamlessly transition and vamp as necessary. The Weeknd must have vocal cords of rebar, because for two hours his piercing tenor and falsetto held strong through the stadium confines. Any hesitancy of the venue's size diminishing the performance melted away as his voice was clear from start to finish. He sustained notes at different octave ranges with confidence and ease. A block of tempered songs that included 'Often,' 'Baptized in Fear' and ended with 'Cry For Me' was a vulgar display of vocal power. The Weeknd's genre fluency and fluidity allows him to cross electronic, new wave, R&B and alternative barriers. He falls easily in line with visionary artists that dabble with darkness and vulnerability like Prince, Björk and Depeche Mode. A synth pop blitz of 'Save Your Tears,' 'Less Than Zero' and 'Blinding Lights' cast appreciative spells of Ultravox and OMD. Stasis is the enemy of creativity, and the Weeknd is getting ahead of it with this tour, celebrating his past triumphs and taking a dry eraser to his 2011 vision board to begin anew. After performing a moving 'I Feel It Coming,' the camera held steady as grateful tears rolled down Tesfaye's face. The mask was off; The Weeknd has left the building. Abel Tesfaye? He's just getting started. Todd Inoue is a freelance writer. Setlist The Abyss Wake Me Up After Hours Starboy Heartless Faith Take My Breath Sacrifice How Do I Make You Love Me? Can't Feel My Face Lost in the Fire (Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd song) Kiss Land Often Given Up on Me I Was Never There The Hills Baptized in Fear Open Hearts Cry for Me São Paulo Until We're Skin & Bones Timeless (with Playboi Carti) RATHER LIE (with Playboi Carti) Creepin' (Metro Boomin cover) Niagara Falls One of the Girls Stargirl Interlude Out of Time I Feel It Coming Die for You Is There Someone Else? Wicked Games Call Out My Name The Morning Save Your Tears Less Than Zero Blinding Lights Without a Warning Reflections Laughing
