The Weeknd continued the After Hours Til Dawn tour last night in Portugal, marking his first show of 2023! The most popular artist in the world played an impressive 31 songs backed up by breathtaking stage visuals and bold cheers from the crowd.
After selling out massive stadiums last year on the US leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, The Weeknd kicked off his European dates with a bang. The name of this trek derives from the R&B icon’s last two records, 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM, and he played all your favorite songs from both projects. The first three tracks from his Portugal setlist, “Take My Breath,” “Sacrifice,” and “How Do I Make You Love Me?” were all party favorites from the past few years. And they helped to hype up the crowd unlike any other.
He then began performing a few of his older essentials, including “Can’t Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” and “Often.” As much as we love his new albums from the 2020s, we can’t forget his Grammy-winning sophomore effort, 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness! After a series of original songs, The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) dove into a few song covers. These include Drake’s “Crew Love,” “Low Life” by Future, and Kanye West’s “Hurricane.”
He’s always shown love to the artists that inspired him, and the Portugal show was no exception. The Weeknd even live debuted “Lost in the Fire,” his collaborative song with Gesaffelstein from 2019! More surprises showed up throughout the set, including the first live performances of “Reminder” and “House of Balloons” since 2018 and other deep cuts that fans have been dying to hear him perform. The multi-platinum singer continued to perform throughout the night until he’d belted out a whopping 28 of his greatest hits… but of course, we can’t forget the encore.
He wrapped up his set with three standout songs… “Double Fantasy,” a cover of “Creepin’” by Metro Boomin, and the live debut of his brand-new single. “Popular!” The last track is a duet with Playboy Carti and Madonna, appearing as the second single off the official soundtrack of The Weeknd’s new HBO drama series, The Idol. We can’t say it enough… The Weeknd is one of the busiest artists in the world but still manages to put on a standout show every night! There are still plenty of chances to see him in Europe in 2023, so grab your tickets and check out the full setlist here.
