The Weeknd put on a dazzling show in the Bay Area on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. The tour dubbed ‘The After Hours Til Dawn Tour’, was intended to support his 2020 release, ‘After Hours’ but was put on hold due to the pandemic. Based on the sold-out crowd’s response, it was definitely worth the wait. Decked out with a set that portrayed his hometown of Toronto, Canada on stage, a blow-up moon hung on the other side of the catwalk while hundreds of lights were set up along the stage. The set showcased a healthy amount of songs from the latest album ‘Dawn FM’ that The Weeknd released earlier this year, as well as ‘After Hours’.
Starting off the set with “Alone Again’, a slew of dancers draped in red dresses walked onto the stage and catwalk, while The Weeknd emerged to perform in a mask. Proceeding into “Gasoline” and “Sacrifice”, both from Dawn FM, the mask would eventually come off and elicited cheers throughout the stadium. The lighting was overwhelming in a good way, as the lights configured on each side of the stage and catwalk illuminated and flashed as “Can’t Feel My Face”, “Starboy” and “I Feel It Coming” played. Pyrotechnics were set up for a portion of the catwalk as well as from behind the buildings of the Toronto backdrop and made for great visual as he performed “The Hills.” In between songs a couple of times, The Weeknd, born Abel Tesfaye, acknowledged the early support he got from the Bay Area and gave a shoutout to San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and of course the town where he was performing in Santa Clara. The new songs from Dawn FM fit right in with the older material as the urgency of “Is There Someone Else?” sounded great and served as an interesting juxtaposition to the previous song, “Die for You”.
The Weeknd’s vocals were strong and clear throughout the night and was very interactive with the crowd, performing to all sides of the stadium while alternating verses and choruses for songs like “How Do I Make You Love Me?” and “Save Your Tears”. The finale was akin to a major Super Bowl performance, which he performed at just last year. Lights flashed throughout the stadium as well as the light-up bracelets that were handed out to each attendee during “Less Than Zero” and “Blinding Lights”. The Weeknd show was highly entertaining that had the right mix of newer and older songs that kept the audience singing, crooning and dancing without missing a beat.
Vision damaged by the lights every time I see The Weeknd. pic.twitter.com/CG4owTNyvZ
— pete mar (@petemar) August 28, 2022