If you have been following on social media or the blog you can tell that this month has been extremely busy for me in terms of concerts. I am grateful to have experienced all of them and especially the concert I went to last night as frankly, that was the best concert I went to this month! The concert I am referring to is The Weeknd’s “After Hours Till Dawn Tour” which concludes in Toronto (but maybe LA will get their make up show soon?). In this blog post you can expect pictures, video links, what happened and more! Before you read below make sure to give a follow on social media by following on Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook! For a visual teaser/video (brief recap) of the concert check out the video here!
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About
It is safe to assume you are living under a rock if you are not aware of who The Weeknd is as he is a global, award winning, and highly successful superstar musician. Although he has a lot of mainstream success as of late, fair warning, some of his earlier stuff won’t be suitable for everyone. Personally I love his voice (reminds me a bit of Michael Jackson when I first heard it during the trailer for the final season of Entourage) but also the dark and mysterious undertones he has in lyrics and videos. One of the main reasons why I supported him from the start in addition to his talent is because he is actually from Scarborough just like me and he even gave an awesome shoutout at the concert which definitely was a highlight for me! It’s awesome to see how far he has come, as he mentions in his song “Sidewalks” he went from “Homeless to Forbes list”. Since it was 11 years ago since his first show at a very small venue, selling out stadiums is an impressive accomplishment!
Tickets
The tickets were severely marked up (maybe because Doja Cat was initially the opening act) which is why I initially didn’t buy the tickets but because my sister was going with her friend who couldn’t go to the new date we ended up selling those tickets and getting new ones. We sat in section 228 L and you can see the view from these pictures in the blog post. I also noticed how when he announced the second date the tickets were cheaper but then resale went up after the concert I went to concluded.
Merchandise
Something that was also a bit marked up was the merchandise which is expected. But frankly, I did not buy anything because the line up to purchase looked really long. The merchandise didn’t look terrible but nothing caught my eye. Above is a picture of one of the merch booths set up.
Duration
Since Doja Cat dropped out of the tour early on The Weeknd still got some opening acts through different tour dates and for us I believe there was two but since we came left I only saw a good portion of Kaytranada’s set. Doors opened at 5:30pm and kaytranada was still performing for a good while and The Weeknd only came out at 9pm till 10:30pm. This was a drawback from the concert as it didn’t really need to start late but thankfully Weeknd’s set was amazing!
Venue
Since this was a stadium tour, this concert was held at the biggest venue in Toronto for concerts, Rogers Centre (home of the Toronto Blue Jays). What made this concert more anticipated than some is because this was supposed to be the concert that kicked off his stadium tour but because Rogers had an outage it had to be cancelled minutes before doors open. In terms of parking, you can find parking almost anywhere nearby but the worst part is the traffic as we left at 5:30 and only got inside the arena at 7:45pm. FYI I heard how the audio was going in and out for some people (went out maybe once from my seat).
Concert
Stage/Production
The stage and production looked really interesting with the design elements including the city skyline backdrop (at times reminded me Gotham and The Batman) and the giant moon (frankly which Kid Cudi should’ve had).
Backup Dancers and Stage Presence
I thought the backup dancers were intriguing (and a bit creepy) but definitely worked with the Weeknd and like himself, he made sure to use the entire set from the main stage to the catwalk to the additional mini-stage under the moon.
Lights
I am not sure if there was a warning on the ticket but there was a lot of lights being used in this production which was really cool but some people can be sensitive towards it. I will say it added to the superstar feel and aesthetic.
Pyrotechnics
Another cool thing that maybe should have some warning because I felt it a bit from my seat was the pyrotechnics. Don’t get me wrong it was awesome and especially during the transition from Hurricane to The Hills
Light-up Bracelet
When enter and pass through security there were employees who gave out these bracelets. I initially thought it was going to be interactive throughout the show similar to how the lightsticks were for BTS or Seventeen. Nevertheless, it did light up a few times and it was great seeing it across the stadium. Above is a picture I took of my bracelet.
Overall Performance & Recommendation
In terms of his performance it was simply amazing. I feel blessed being able to see a performer like that as it truly was seeing a global superstar dominate a crowd in his hometown at the biggest venue in the city. His voice was phenomenal from start to finish and it was incredible that he literally performed for an hour and half without any breaks or intermissions. I 100% recommend anyone seeing him live, especially because of his amazing talent but also since I did people of all ages there eg. (little children to senior citizens).
In terms of recommendations, frankly I think if he did take a brief intermission in between it would have been nice as he may be able to perform more songs because he has a lot of great tracks on his catalog. I will also say that he should probably start earlier. Nonetheless, it was an amazing show and I am so glad I went and finally saw him live after all these years! Did you go to any of his tour dates or a prior concert of his? Do you plan on going to a future show? Let me know in the comments below and on social media by following on Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook!