REVIEW: THE WEEKND BRINGS AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR TO B.C. PLACE
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The Weeknd is by far the most interesting Canadian global pop star of the past decade. The singer, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is also confusing.
The first of two back-to-back B.C. Place dates on the After Hours Til Dawn tour made this crystal clear. It’s unlikely that tonight’s gig will change anything.
In a marathon 40-tune show, the 35-year-old brought nothing less than an A-game to the arena-spanning set. From its veritable B.C. forest of flames, criss-crossing lasers, giant golden showpiece statue similar to the one seen in Fritz Lang’s dystopian science fiction classic Metropolis, the design was all drama and flash.
Add in masked, head scarf-wearing, red-dressed dancers who mostly struck random poses and a kind of freaky mask with glowing eye orbs for the first few songs and it was a really big show designed to entrance.
The nearly sold-out stadium certainly let the singer know that they approved. This crowd was loud.
But concerts are about music too and The Weeknd has always run into a bit of a problem with the whole ‘filler versus killer’ balance in his shows.
For every perfect single such as Can’t Feel My Face or Wake Me Up, there are also the tedious exercises in post-feminist manosphere romance poetry like Heartless or Timeless. While these plodding tracks did seem to have their fans, no amount of shots of The Weeknd’s new Nespresso Samra Origins collaboration brew could stifle the yawns some of these songs generated.
It felt like he was well aware of the moments when the material might need massaging to keep folks engaged and insisted on reminding everyone that the tour was in Vancouver at every imaginable opportunity.
There may never have been another performer to grace B.C. Place that inserted the name of the city the concert was taking place in so many times. It wasn’t necessary at all, even if it did keep the fans roaring approval. Their deafening choruses of boo following his mention of all the American cities the tour had recently been through said a great deal more about where people’s minds are at these days.
In other words, The Weeknd didn’t need to be working so hard on selling his brand. People love the guy and yet here he was coming off like some well-worn Vegas strip hawker.
It’s somewhat possible that opener Playboi Carti not being able to make the show due to apparent border issues threw something of a wrench into the works. Carti has been joining The Weeknd during his performance on most of the tour which doubtlessly gives him a bit of a rest from carrying the entire load on his own.
All he needed to do was keep dropping slamming funk-offs like Starboy and Faith into the set with those potent, spot-on vocals and flamepot flashes. His keyboardist dropped an ’80s-certified synth solo into the latter tune that took it completely next level. A few more moments like that wouldn’t have hurt the flow one bit, as it gave the dancers a chance to flex and for The Weeknd to get up close to fans on one of the side runways.
As noted, when the dude is hitting it right, he’s awesome.
The post-apocalyptic backdrop of a collapsed and destroyed cityscape and visuals of the artist trying to punch through a red wall suggested that there is a reincarnation coming from the musician and Tesfaye has repeatedly hinted that he might retire The Weeknd character after this tour finishes.
If that is indeed the case, it will be interesting to see what Monday brings.
Hopefully, he will find inspiration to craft more of the timeless ear worms he has locked into our heads and to dial back the repetitive sounding meandering mid-tempo duds.
5 Highlights in the After Hours Til Dawn set list
When The Weeknd is on, he is like a force of pop perfection that nothing can stop. In his After Hours Til Dawn show, there are some spectacular examples of his pristine tune smithing. Here are the five highlights of the show.
1. Wake Me Up : From the poorly reviewed new album Hurry Up Tomorrow, this collab with French dance crew Justice proved itself as a live number. Its slow symphonic build up to a retro electrofunk vamp really got folks dancing in their seats.
2. Take My Breath : A slamming upbeat boogie from Dawn FM that has an addictive falsetto chorus hook that would make Earth, Wind & Fire jealous. This may have been the booty-shaker of the night.
3. The Hills : One of the ballads that resonates with genuine emotion. The crowd belted out the “I only call you when it’s half-past five” lyric like it came from personal experience. Plus, FIRE!
4. Less Than Zero : An upbeat, bouncy tune that does that sounds like it could have been written by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in the eighties. Pairs melancholy lyricism with pure pop hooks.
5. Blinding Lights : Well, duh. Arguably the best-known song by someone who has written his share of hits, this driving song is an absolute banger in concert. It’s a timeless toe-tapper that will likely keep sounding as fresh in another 10 years as it does today.
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2025-07-16T13:17:26Z