Concert Review: The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour at the Rogers Centre in Toronto
- Nevaeh Scott
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 5
The Weeknd is a singer/songwriter hailing from Toronto, Canada, with his R&B vocals hitting audiences since his YouTube days in 2010. Following his release of Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd announced his After Hours Til Dawn Tour. I had the opportunity to attend his first out of four performances in his hometown right at the Rogers Centre. The Rogers Centre, the retractable roof stadium known to house the Toronto Blue Jays, hit home to The Weeknd as he used to watch the Blue Jays when he was younger. Now, people are watching him. Opening for him were the lovely Mike Dean and Kaytranada (substituted for Playboi Carti), setting the tone with great electro-pop beats and epic visuals. To add, effects were used throughout all sets that added to the vibe. This hyping the fans, the festivities began to further engage the crowd in this emotional yet exciting performance.
The Weeknd walked out strong, mask on, ready to perform his hit “The Abyss” from his new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow. Firstly introduced by his posse of women in red, the dancers set the stage for his arrival. The visuals, lights, and dancers set the party for a smashing show. After performing some favorable hits like “Starboy”, “Feel It Coming”, and “I Can’t Feel My Face”, The Weeknd took off his mask to reveal himself, erupting the crowd. This created a more personable vibe, as he explains that he is glad to be home. He went on to perform a set list of new and old songs from his various albums. With this being his first show in his hometown, the audience felt special to be the first crowd to give a warm welcome home. He showed off his extensive range with every other song, adding his personal flare to further entertain. However, nothing can take away the spectacular firework show at the end.
Before he hit the stage, the Rogers Centre opened its roof to the view of the CN Tower and the beautiful Toronto night sky. After an encore, The Weeknd exclaimed that they would have to drag him off stage. This created more hype as people, including myself, leaped off of their seats to jump to more hits. On a happy note, he also performed my favorite song “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls” before the finale. During the final song and his goodbye to the crowd, fireworks bursted from behind the seats to wish the audience farewell. Out of the many concerts I’ve ever been to, I have to say that this was the coolest display I’ve seen. If you are in the Toronto area or reading this from the United States, there are still tickets out there to see this amazing performance! If you’re an avid The Weeknd listener reading this with FOMO, I strongly encourage you to get those tickets, they won’t disappoint!
Written By Nevaeh Scott
*copyright not intended. Fair use act, section 107.
