The Weeknd is a big star and he likes concept albums. How does it work?
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The Weeknd: After Hours Til Dawn Tour
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When: August 23, 18:30
Where: Place BC
Tickets/information: ticketmaster.ca
To put into perspective just how big The Weeknd has become, consider that he’s playing BC Place.
Since the first drawing notice that dropped music on YouTube in 2009, Toronto-born artist Abel Makkonen Tesfaye has carved out a rarefied place for himself in the performing arts realm where he can draw more than 50,000 fans to a show. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and the Rolling Stones can do it. Toronto celebrity Drake hasn’t done it yet.
It didn’t happen overnight.
The alternative R&B/pop hybrid that The Weeknd inhabits first gained attention with 2012’s Republic Records compilation album Trilogy. That release captured material found on the acclaimed 2011 indie mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence. People instantly noticed the high quality of this material and word spread that this was an artist working on his own turf. Kiss Land dropped a year later and debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart. Word was out.
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The Grammy-winning Earned It, featured on the soundtrack of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey, caused a frenzy from fans. From there it’s been uphill all the way to a fantastic 2021 Super Bowl halftime set.
Each subsequent album not only showcased a different side of this multifaceted artist, but produced such excellent and memorable singles as the record-breaking Can’t Feel My Face, Starboy and Blinding Lights. This addictive electropop hit exists in a time warp where it could have been from the late 80’s to the present day. In other words, man can create some timeless melodies.
Here are five things to know about your next date in Vancouver:
1. Very warm-up acts: Featuring opening sets from celebrated producer and artist Mike Dean and Montreal’s Polaris Award-winning electronic act Kaytranada, the warm-up acts are more like smaller rep headliners in their own right. That’s a good reason to get to the venue early, plus the fact that it’s never exactly an easy ride in and out of BC Place when someone’s playing there. Come for the comfort. Stay for the quality sounds.
2. The Red Coats: In his review of the tour’s opening night in Philadelphia, originally scheduled for his hometown of Toronto, but changed due to COVID: Variety Fans reported that they showed up sporting the red jackets and bandaged noses look that The Weeknd dons for After Hours. Given how beat up he looks in the Blinding Lights video, this could lead to some sticky seats if fans take the cosplay to the end.
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3. Large production: You can expect a catwalk setting, dancers, lots of pyrotechnics, and more than one act that has a penchant for production values. His Starboy tour date at Rogers Arena took off with a barrage of smoke and lasers. He just kept building from there. This time, it’s all presented in a hyper-stylized, slightly apocalyptic cityscape that focuses heavily on their two most recent releases, highlighting their dark-to-light and somewhat loose concept album approach.
4. Extensive song list: Dawn FM Gasoline opens the evening. From there, the song list averages 29 songs. Even with all of his own hits to work with, The Weeknd is finding room to add tracks like Drake’s Crew Love, Ty Dolla $ign’s Or Nah and Kanye West’s Hurricane. Naturally, early hits like Can’t Feel My Face and The Hills also feature, and there are multiple stages involved here, as is typical for mega-venue performances.
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5. The best for last?: Shows this big rarely move the set list too much, so it takes a lot of planning to block out every single lighting cue, explosion, and dance interlude. Given that, the overview of the setlists throughout the tour makes it clear that if you want to hear him play Blinding Lights, you’re going to stay until the end. There are no encores, as this hit seems as perfect an ending as it could be to the night.
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