“The first night’s always the best night,” The Weeknd told the 60,000 fans at Glendale, Arizona's State Farm Stadium on Friday night (5/9) during a two-hour set.
The Grammy-winning singer, born Abel Tesfaye, launched his After Hours Til Dawn Tour this month while teasing what may be his final run under his oft misspelled moniker.
Abel spoiled fans with 37 songs, showcasing his deep catalog, but started it off with new material from his latest offering Hurry Up Tomorrow, including live debuts of “Opening Night,” “Baptized in Fear,” and “Niagara Falls."
Along the way he offered the lucky opening night fans a glimpse into the cinematic world of his forthcoming film. In many ways show was a bow tie upon the gift that has been his last three LPs and a glorious preview of what hitting the silver screen later this weeknd.
The ever-evolving Canadian broke new ground on 2020’s After Hours – his fourth studio album that produced mammoth hits like “Starboy" and “Blinding Lights.”
How mammoth? "Starboy," which features Daft Punk, became Spotify's fourth-most streamed song in its history. At 3.88 billion listens, it's higher on the chart than anything by Post Malone, Billie Eilish or Drake.
"Blinding Lights," comes in at 4.88 billion, making it the most-streamed song on Spotify, ever. It's nearly 500 million streams ahead of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You."
Halfway through the set, opener Playboi Carti returned to the stage for a fiery tag-team rendition of their latest collaborations “Timeless” and “Rather Lie.”
The music video for "Timeless," which was released last year, has racked up 107 million views, which surpassed Abel and Carti's hit collab with Madonna, "Popular" which had earned over 84 million YouTube views.
Much like when they performed together in Brazil last year, the pair are a dynamite duo who should just get on with it and make a full album together.
The After Hours Til Dawn Tour, named after his two previous albums, is essentially a celebration of his After Hours-era trilogy, covering After Hours, Dawn FM and the new Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Some are speculating that with the end of the trilogy will mean the end of The Weeknd's moniker.
The Fader has noticed the singer/songwriter has already begun removing "The Weeknd" from the bios of his social channels, and replacing it with his government name.
In just a few days his $20 million film, Hurry Up Tomorrow, hits movie theaters.
Directed by Trey Edward Shults and co-written by Tesfaye, Shults, and Reza Fahim, the film stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. Abel plays musician cursed with insomnia who meets a stranger.
If any of the film's songs are nominated for an Oscar it wouldn't be the first time he'd have received a nom from the Academy.
In 2016 he was was up for Original Song for "Earned It," from Fifty Shades of Grey. Controversially, he lost out to Sam Smith's James Bond tune, "Writing's on the Wall."
The Weeknd will be traveling through North America this summer bouncing from one football stadium after another.
Quite a few of the cities will get a double dose of After Hours Till Dawn, Los Angeles will receive four nights of love.
Get your tickets on The Weeknd's website.
The After Hours Til Dawn 2025 Stadium Tour
May 24–25: Ford Field – Detroit, MI (the home of the Detroit Lions)
May 30–31: Soldier Field – Chicago, IL (the home of the Chicago Bears)
June 5–7: MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ (the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets)
June 10–11: Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, MA (the home of the New England Patriots)
June 14: U.S. Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN (the home of the Minnesota Vikings)
June 21: Empower Field at Mile High – Denver, CO (the home of the Denver Broncos)
June 25–29: SoFi Stadium – Inglewood, CA (the home of the Los Angeles Rams)
July 4–5: Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV (the home of the Oakland Raiders)
July 8–9: Levi’s Stadium – Santa Clara, CA (the home of the San Francisco 49ers)
July 12: Lumen Field – Seattle, WA (the home of the Seattle Seahawks)
July 15: BC Place – Vancouver, BC (the home of the BC Lions)
July 19: Commonwealth Stadium – Edmonton, AB (the home of the Edmonton Elks)
July 24: Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montréal, QC (former site of Montreal Alouettes games)
July 27–28: Rogers Centre – Toronto, ON (home of Vlad Jr.)
July 30: Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, PA (the home of the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles)
August 2: Northwest Stadium – Landover, MD (the home of the Washington Commanders)
August 12: Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN (the home of the Tennessee Titans)
August 15: Hard Rock Stadium – Miami, FL (the home of the Miami Dolphins)
August 21: Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA (the home of the Atlanta Falcons)
August 24: Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL (home of the Florida State Seminoles for select neutral-site games)
August 27: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX (the home of the Dallas Cowboys)
August 30: NRG Stadium – Houston, TX (the home of the Houston Texans)
September 3: Alamodome – San Antonio, TX (the home of the UTSA Roadrunners)
