At Gillette, the Weeknd made his case for being the reigning male artist in pop music
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On Tuesday night at Gillette, Tesfaye continued the heavy lifting, piling platinum songs atop diamond singles during the first of two nights in town for his 'After Hours 'Til Dawn Stadium Tour.' The current slew of shows toasts the artist's last three records: 'After Hours,' 'Dawn FM,' and this year's release, 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' all chapters of a trilogy that Tesfaye has been fleshing out since 2020.
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The Weeknd performs at Gillette Stadium.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
'I said, 'next time I come back, we're doing this [expletive] twice,'' Tesfaye said, referencing a thought from his one-show visit to Foxborough in 2022.
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If manifesting
Such supersized production elements could only be dwarfed by the magnitude of Tesfaye's catalog. While the evening focused largely on material from the aforementioned trilogy of albums, all seven of the artist's No. 1 songs surfaced throughout the night. Most notably, 'The Hills' set the catwalk ablaze with timed pyrotechnics as Tesfaye prowled through the hedonistic hit, and he later transformed the fluttering synths of 'Die For You' into a touching devotional for the crowd.
And while era-defining chart-toppers like 'Can't Feel My Face' or 'Blinding Lights' would have been natural choices for an ecstatic finale, Tesfaye offered the two dance songs earlier in the set, and instead chose to stick the landing with a smaller hit, the Swedish House Mafia collab 'Moth To A Flame' ('smaller' here meaning it boasts 'only' one billion Spotify streams).
'Like a moth to a flame, I'll pull you in, I pulled you back to what you need initially,' he sang, harnessing the devotion that earned him two consecutive shows at Gillette – and could very well earn him a third on his next tour.
Your move, Sheeran.
THE WEEKND
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With Playboi Carti and Mike Dean
At Gillette Stadium, Tuesday
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