Latest news with #RogersCentre
CBC
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Abel Tesfaye returns to Toronto to kill The Weeknd
Social Sharing Unlike Taylor Swift's meteorite-like crash landing in the sweaty city of Toronto, there were no friendship bead-wearing police horses at The Weeknd's first showing in the Six. Instead, a more subdued air surrounded Rogers Centre as fans funnelled in: Low-key Starboy tracks warbling into the 30 C drippingly-wet air blanketing the stadium in the heart of The Weeknd's hometown. But that doesn't mean a lack of excitement, despite the weather. "God damn, it's hot," Canadian producer and DJ Kaytranada even exclaimed, towelling himself off onstage during a well-done if not earth-shattering opening. That was as sweltering fans at the first of four sold-out nights in the 50,000-seat venue braved the heat in requisitely dark clothes to match the R&B superstar infamously dark music. Just a day before, Mayor Olivia Chow dubbed the preceding days "The Weeknd weekend." That was because, she said, "Abel (The Weeknd) Tesfaye represents the best of our city." The Scarborough-raised artist also received a key to the city. And it was all just before audience members, eager to experience what is often still described as a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience, were uncharacteristically chatty with journalists — throwing themselves into on-camera interviews instead of waiting for the insistent coaxing of harried producers. "Everyone here, we are The Weeknd," a fan named Perry told CBC News. "He represents Canada." But as Tesfaye took the stage, the seemingly incongruous mix of emotions instantly made sense. Decked in a black robe encrusted with glittering gold rhinestones and a golden half-mask, you could see he embodied that caustic mix of the charismatic and subdued that, for anyone else, would not fit in the same person at the same time. As he has proven since releasing anonymous and unsettling dance-themed mixtapes in the 2010s all the way to this seemingly last tour under The Weeknd moniker, this is the space where Tesfaye thrives. While not retiring from music, he plans to no longer perform under the name he has become famous for. A return home Quickly barrelling through classic tracks The Abyss to Wake Me Up to After Hours, he was flanked by similarly masked, enrobed backup dancers — moving in unison around a slowly spinning golden statue of a giant, nude woman (imagine a female Oscars statuette, but with visible nipples). They stood beneath large gold rings, in front of a mocked up golden skyline of a crumbling city. Even Tesfaye's microphone was gold, a particularly heavy-handed metaphor that, early on, he stumbled chaotically toward. While roughly 30 women walked in sync around the statue and then behind to him, and as jets of fire shot up 20 feet into the air, Tesfaye held his hands up to the mic as if in prayer. None of them had to dance or even move much to earn the deafening applause that came next, as Tesfaye revealed the tiniest bit of his face, slightly peaking over the top of the mask. "Well that's a warm welcome home, isn't it?" he asked to another roar. It wasn't the last call out to his hometown. Later, he remarked the stadium is where he used to come to watch Blue Jays games "as a little baby," let out a long and extended "Toronto" in the middle of his track Sacrifice and managed to sneak both CN Tower and Rogers Centre references into São Paulo. But the focus was the gold, the ceremony and the performative reverence of it. The effect is impressive if eerie. A consummate musical professional with four Grammys under his belt and more Junos than anyone but Anne Murray, Tesfaye knows how to set a scene. He also knows how to sing, and — more than that — perform. He never failed to lead the tens of thousands of cheering attendants in song or just rapturous applause. It all gives the impression of some club-themed religious ceremony: A gigantic and enormously budgeted cultic worship service, except here the god is hedonism, sex and all the more outrageous scenes of Wolf of Wall Street. Of course, this is by design — both why The Weeknd can define himself as a generational sex symbol without gyrating or even revealing a sliver of his body under baggy robes and ostensibly why he's choosing to leave the schtick behind after this tour. In his shows and music, he's playing a club kid, fame-obsessed semi-satirical character invented way back in his debut mixtape House of Balloons days — itself a mask, Tesfaye explained in a 2013 Reddit AMA, he chose in order to hide his name and, by extension, himself. Vanity and nihilism In person, it all comes together like a magic trick. At a Weeknd concert, we're both sick of materialism, and sick of being sick of it. We're letting go of every inhibition, forgetting love, revelling in sex and giving up on self-control. It's all a statement about nihilism, you see. Or maybe, it's not. "It seems exorbitant when it all ends. A pointless, uncomfortable exercise from an artist who believes vanity means no stone of excess can be left unturned," music journalist Hanif Abdurraqib wrote of a 2013 Weeknd show in his book They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us. "The Weeknd tells the same tale: It's never about love, but then again, how can it be about anything but love, even if the love is just the love you have for your own ravenous desires." How much the separate entity of The Weeknd exists for Tesfaye to explore and mock his most self-destructive tendencies — instead of just revelling in them — isn't exactly clear. You would've been hard pressed to find any hints of displeasure from the seemingly ecstatic Tesfaye on Sunday. He hit hits old and new out of the park, and was grinning ear-to-ear as he held the microphone to nearly fainting fans, screaming out the ad libs of Out of Time. Still, it's perhaps a strange message to brand, as Chow did, the best of the city — and a strange one to have drawn as many barely five-foot middle-schoolers as Sunday's all-ages show did. At the same time, it's a theme that has offered diminishing returns. There was the 2022 Los Angeles concert in which Tesfaye infamously lost his voice due to stress. Then the ill-fated series The Idol, a Tesfaye-fronted series about the relentless pursuit of fame that was widely panned by critics and even The Weeknd himself. And then there was Hurry Up Tomorrow, the absurdly, incomprehensibly stupid filmic tie-in of his most recent album. Intended to further explore his falling-out-of-love with The Weeknd after the L.A. show, instead it only managed to compete with Megalopolis as the most offensively boring movie to premiere in the last 12 months. But perhaps these failures were because Tesfaye was performing to the wrong crowd, on the wrong stage. His messy, introspective and vague metaphors work better in song lyrics than dialogue; better sung in front of a stunning pyrotechnic flame and fireworks show than on a film screen. If Sunday's show proved anything, it was that. And even if on the inside he's done with The Weeknd, it proved he can certainly still fake it.
CBC
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Toronto's 'Starboy', aka The Weeknd, receives a key to the city
Toronto's very own Starboy has been awarded a key to the city ahead of his highly-anticipated concerts at Rogers Centre. Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, received the honour from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow during a private ceremony on Saturday. "I'm deeply honored to receive the key to the city. It feels good to be home. Toronto is where I found my voice, and I'm committed to helping the next generation find theirs," he said in a statement. To mark the occasion, the singer and entertainment company Live Nation will be also partnering up to support the the Boys & Girls Club of West Scarborough and The Weeknd's alma mater of Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute "to create spaces for youth to connect, create and thrive," says a news release from the City of Toronto. Students from both institutions were present at the ceremony on Saturday. "Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye represents the best of our city. From Scarborough to the global stage, he has reshaped modern music while using his platform to support health and humanitarian causes at home and around the world," said Chow in a statement. "I am proud to honour one of our city's greatest artists with a key to the city to celebrate his contributions to music, society and our culture." Chow also proclaimed the weekend of July 26 and 27 as "The Weeknd Weekend" in Toronto. The Diamond-certified artist has smashed through global chart records with hit songs like Call Out My Name and Can't Feel My Face. Born and raised in West Scarborough, he made history as the first Canadian solo artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2021.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
The Weeknd presented with Key to the City ahead of Toronto concerts
Mayor Olivia Chow poses with The Weeknd and his crew while holding the Key to the City. (City of Toronto handout) Grammy Award-winning musician The Weeknd has received the Key to the City ahead of his highly anticipated concerts at Rogers Centre. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow presented the honour to the Scarborough-born musician, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, at the downtown stadium on Saturday. In a statement, the mayor said The Blinding Lights singer represents the best of Toronto. 'From Scarborough to the global stage, he has reshaped modern music while using his platform to support health and humanitarian causes at home and around the world. I am proud to honour one of our city's greatest artists with a Key to the City to celebrate his contributions to music, society and our culture,' Chow said. The Weeknd is in Toronto for his 'After Hours til Dawn' tour in support of his album trilogy 'After Hours,' 'Dawn FM' and 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' which was released earlier this year. The singer, who has 27 songs with over 1 billion streams each on Spotify, is set to perform in Toronto on Sunday and Monday and will return for additional shows on Aug. 7 and 8. The Often singer said he was honoured to receive the Key to the City. 'It feels good to be home,' he said. 'Toronto is where I found my voice, and I'm committed to helping the next generation find theirs.' In addition to his achievements in the music industry, the city said the awarding of the Key to the City is also in recognition of The Weeknd's contributions to the community, including raising and donating $500,000 to the Scarborough Health Network during the pandemic and co-founding HXOUSE, a not-for-profit innovation hub that empowers emerging creatives and entrepreneurs. The city added that The Weeknd, in honour of the recognition, is investing in the Boys & Girls Club of West Scarborough and his former high school, Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute, to create spaces for youth. 'As a self-made global ambassador for Toronto's music and arts communities, The Weeknd serves as a role model for aspiring artists everywhere. His recognition today celebrates both his international impact and his dedication to Toronto's cultural identity,' the city said. The city has also proclaimed July 26 and 27 as 'The Weeknd Weekend.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees' Aaron Boone's take on NY's defense leads to savage clowning
The post Yankees' Aaron Boone's take on NY's defense leads to savage clowning appeared first on ClutchPoints. The New York Yankees left Rogers Centre on Wednesday night with more questions than answers. Aaron Boone's postgame comments quickly made the rounds on social media following one of the team's sloppiest performances. Four defensive errors cost New York an 8-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, along with the series and valuable ground in the AL East race. 'Just not good enough,' Boone said after the game, as his squad wrapped up a series filled with miscues and missed opportunities. The Yankees entered Toronto with a chance to climb toward the division's top. Instead, they committed multiple errors across the three-game set, bringing their total to 11 in their last seven games at Rogers Centre. On Wednesday alone, Max Fried, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ben Rice, and Jasson Domínguez were each charged with an error, while Cody Bellinger lost a routine fly ball in the sky that turned into a triple for Ernie Clement and sparked a three-run rally. Boone stood by the overall quality of his defense, noting that they ranked among MLB's top teams in defensive efficiency before the game. Still, he didn't downplay the significance of their latest mistakes. 'And a lot of the season, the defense has been very good. It's these two series where it's not been good. We lost games to them in big part because we've given them outs.' Boone said, according to SNY. Social media users wasted no time clowning Boone for his comments. One post compared him to Frank Drebin from The Naked Gun, waving people along and declaring 'nothing to see here' as flames raged in the background. Another used AI to mock up a portrait of Boone holding a sign implying he's clueless at his job. Others recycled a popular meme of him simply stating, 'I have no idea what I'm doing.' Now the Yankees face a grueling stretch of 13 games in 13 days, starting with a weekend series against the Phillies. With the trade deadline looming, every inning matters — and so does every defensive play. Boone clarified that it's time to 'tighten things up' before more games slip away due to fielding errors. Related: Yankees fans will love Ken Rosenthal questioning Aaron Boone for sloppy play Related: Yankees' defense clowned by Blue Jays social team
National Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- National Post
How Sportsnet's stunning drone shots are bringing Dome home for Blue Jays viewers
From a promotional perspective for a booming sports franchise and the corporate sister sports network that helps spread the word with its thorough coverage of the team, the Rogers Centre has never looked better. Article content Crowds of 41,000 plus packed the place each of the last six games as the Blue Jays finished off a 5-1 homestand to further entrench their first-place status in the American League East. Article content Article content Article content Perfect summer nights added to the visuals and one of the biggest and most loyal television audiences in all of baseball were the beneficiaries. Article content And over the past week, a TV production toy has revolutionized the look of what the million-plus Canadians tuning into Jays broadcasts are seeing. The shots from the drone camera buzzing high above the Rogers Centre have been nothing short of stunning, bringing Jays viewers rare views of a stadium that has dramatically transformed its look in the past two years. Article content While no one at Rogers or Sportsnet wants to talk specifically on the record about what the shot has brought to game coverage and whether it will become a fixture in future shows, it's already a winner with many viewers. And on a broadcast that is already pitching 2026 season ticket sales as the best way to secure playoff tickets for 2025 (despite 60 games remaining in the season), the look has never been better. Article content The overhead shots zooming down into the packed stadium have provided terrific transition to game action, while capturing the stunning look of the extensively renovated stadium. Fans are well aware of what's happening on the field, but the shots — particularly the brilliant images at nightfall — are certainly helping spread the message that the downtown dome is once again the place to be. Article content Article content It's encouraging (and logical) to see that Rogers is spending on the production side of the network it owns to best display the team that's also a jewel under its corporate umbrella , given that ratings are routinely topping one million viewers a night. Those numbers should continue to escalate the longer the product remains exciting. Article content Is the shot over-used at times? Perhaps, but if you were a producer or a director with that tool in your tool box, how could you resist one of the more enticing technological tools available. Article content The more advanced sports productions gets, the more sports venues can be treated as giant TV studios. Think of the Olympic Games, where the 'beauty shots' as they are known in the business seem to be on an endless loop providing spectacular backdrops to the spectacle unfolding. No one is suggesting that the Rogers Centre is one of the seven wonders of the sporting world, but it sure looked special during the recently complete series against the Yankees. Article content And the drone camera — which those in the stadium can see hovering high above home plate after nightfall – has certainly added some 'wow' shots to the handful of recent broadcasts it has been part of the Sportsnet arsenal. Article content Speaking with those involved, it doesn't sound as though the drones will be an every home game toy for those that produce the broadcasts, though that could change if rave reviews continue. Article content For whatever reason — and perhaps because the network is still figuring out how extensively it wants to employ the technology going forward — a request to Sportsnet for comment on the drone's use and its impact on the broadcasts was denied citing 'policy' to not allow producers to comment on production. Article content That said, those on air and behind the scenes that we spoke with at the Rogers Centre this week certainly recognized the impact the drone view was bringing to the broadcast. For the broadcasters, there's an appreciation of the atmosphere in the building for a series like the recent one and the drone is helping deliver it in high definition directly to people's screens. Article content For those involved on the production side, they're well aware of the power of a well-timed, unique visual to further capture what's happening with the team. Article content Add in the regular camera shots, excellent audio work to capture the crowd Jays manager John Schneider is crediting as an aid to the team's success and the overall slick show produced by Doug Walton has enhanced the telling of one of the best stories in baseball this season Article content IN THE BOOTH Article content With Buck Martinez's extended absence continuing, Joe Siddall will be alongside Dan Shulman for the big four-game series over the weekend in Detroit against the Tigers. Article content What suddenly looms as a critical series with the AL Central leaders was always going to be on Siddall's schedule given he lives across the river in Windsor, Ont. It is expected that Caleb Joseph will get the call for the four games in three days Baltimore series that follows and leads into the MLB trade deadline. Article content It's expected that Martinez, who continues to follow the action closely, will return to the booth at some point as he deals with what Sportsnet described as a 'health setback.' Article content The sizzling Jays ratings were a topic of conversation around the batting cage this week, especially when compared with the powerhouse brand that are the New York Yankees. Article content Specifically, folks involved with the YES Network, the long-time home of the Yankees broadcasts, were wowed by the news we reported last week that the Sportsnet recorded a season high audience of 1.2 million for the first Yankees series this month. While Sportsnet has the advantage of being a coast-to-coast entity, it isn't as if YES doesn't reach a large market. That said, on the rare occasions that the network draws 500,000 viewers, it's cause for celebration. For Sportsnet, that number would be seen as a terrible off-night for its captive Canadian audience. Article content
