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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
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
Boston Globe
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
At Gillette, the Weeknd made his case for being the reigning male artist in pop music
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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 Advertisement With Playboi Carti and Mike Dean At Gillette Stadium, Tuesday
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd Might Not Be Retiring His Music Persona After All
The Weeknd has teased that Hurry Up Tomorrow— his sixth album and upcoming film of the same name— also marks the end of the artist fans have grown to love for over 15 years. However, that may not necessarily be the case. While promoting the film at CinemaCon 2025, Abel Tesfaye told EW that this moment feels like both a death and resurrection. 'It feels like it [the end of the Weeknd]. I mean, I've kind of toyed with the idea in the past with albums,' he noted. 'But it could also just be a rebirth. Who knows?' Back in January, the 35-year-old announced plans to retire his alter ego. 'It's a headspace I've gotta get into that I just don't have any more desire for,' he explained to Variety. 'You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.' Hurry Up Tomorrow marks the conclusion in the trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours, which was followed by 2022's Dawn FM. The film follows a fictionalized version of himself, also named Abel, who gets taken on an insane ride by a seductive stranger, Anima (Jenna Ortega). Director Trey Edward Shults, shared with EW in February that he 'tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it's very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it.' Shults confirmed that it was an 'absolute possibility' that the movie would be The Weeknd's last hurrah chapter, adding 'For people that aren't his fans and don't know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.' The Weeknd considers the film to be 'really introspective and cathartic.' It hits theaters this Friday. More from The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Film Trailer Hints At A Mind-Bending Experience The Weeknd Earns Fifth No. 1 Album With 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Debut The Weeknd Releases Star-Studded 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Movie Trailer
Gulf Weekly
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Weekly
Melodies from the mind
Musical psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow is out now in theatres. Starring Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, the film is set to tell the story of an insomniac musician on the verge of a breakdown, who gets pulled into an existential journey that challenges everything he knows about himself upon meeting a mysterious stranger named Ani, played by Jenna Ortega. 'It's a mix of psychological thriller and drama,' director Trey Shults said in an interview. 'I honestly feel like I've never seen a movie quite like it,' he added. It was revealed that while the main character played by Tesfaye is also named Abel, the plot is only loosely based on his career, which he embarked on in 2009. 'I feel like we created a character that isn't exactly him, but it's honest to his soul and what he could have been if things went differently in life,' Trey explained. 'I think his character is in need of self-reflection. He's kind of at a crossroads in his life.' The film takes inspiration from an incident, which also influenced the accompanying soundtrack, released in January – Abel who features on the film's musical album lost his voice mid-song during a sold-out show on his last world tour. 'I knew that I really needed to sit down and figure out my life. I'd had a kind of a mental breakdown, which is pretty much what this new album's about,' Abel said ahead of the musical release. The namesake album consisting of 22 tracks combines elements of R&B, synth-pop, trap as well as Brazilian funk. It is also the final instalment of a trilogy, following his previous creations After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022), and marks his sixth studio release. Abel said that Hurry Up Tomorrow is very likely going to be his last body of work as The Weeknd. 'As the Weeknd, I've said everything I can say. I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd, and I will, eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn,' he added.
