Abel Tesfaye has spent four years on the After Hours Til Dawn tour. He was one of those directly affected by the pandemic, originally conceived to center on the marvelous ‘After Hours’ and find himself delayed and updated as the years passed along with the releases of ‘Dawn FM’ and above all ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’. The Canadian artist has even gone so far as to drop hints that this will be the last tour under the moniker The Weeknd. In this sense, his return to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano de Madrid feels like the spectacular culmination of his entire trilogy. Perhaps, even of his entire career.
The show opens with flames enveloping the imposing golden Hajime Soroyama statue that rises at the center of the stage, again divided into three sections: the main platform, with remnants of a city utterly razed; the intermediate walkway and the B-Stage, designed exclusively to foster closeness with the audience. A group of performers wearing red robes and gold masks opens the doors to the “city.” Total cult mode. The Weeknd does not make a triumphant entrance. Rather, the audience realizes that he’s there, wearing a mask with eyes lit in red. It surely must be the only non-grandiose element of this concert.
From the outset, even though it was still daylight, everything is flooded with lasers, lights, fire (a lot of fire) and absolutely any element worthy of appearing in a production of this scale. It is almost overwhelming during the chorus of ‘São Paulo’, which unleashed the most flames I have ever seen at a concert. A few minutes later, ‘The Hills’ completely surpassed it. While the show remains utterly visually captivating, it ends with a finale where fireworks join the mix in ‘Moth To A Flame’; the special effects are rarely tied to a narrative. For that, a concept is needed. It had been the case in his previous tour version. Even if at times a black hole appears on the screen and the statue begins to smoke, here what matters are the songs.
In this, The Weeknd does not disappoint. The setlist comes across as a tour through all his eras and singles, with the songs scattering and flowing without a break across two hours of performance that fly by. There is a special emphasis on his latest album, as is obvious, and it passes very lightly over ‘Kiss Land’, including a snippet of ‘Professional’ during the run of ‘Save Your Tears’. The one thing I missed was ‘In Your Eyes’, one of his best songs. And it’s not that Tesfaye included it on other dates. His setlist is rigid. The guy did five Wembley shows and didn’t change a single comma.
The sound, as strange as it sounds, accompanied him. The artist’s voice dazzled from the outset with ‘Baptized In Fire’ and ‘Open Hearts’, but above all benefited from the quieter moments of the show. The Canadian shines; he really gives it his all during ‘Given Up On Me’ and ‘Niagara Falls’, as well as in the succession of hits led by ‘I Feel It Coming’, ‘Die For You’, ‘Wicked Games’ and ‘Call Out My Name’. Yet what he achieves with his voice is not entirely matched by his personality, which remains utterly antiseptic. The Weeknd does what a superstar of his level should do, basically. Be correct.
Yes, Abel does possess the comic power to sing anything in an angelic way, a device he uses on several occasions and which always lands very effectively. And it isn’t the only funny moment in the show! Someone from his team has been very smart to invent something natural, funny and viral at the same time, such as the segment in which Tesfaye comes down to sing ‘Out Of Time’ with someone from the audience. He sings the first half of the chorus brilliantly, and the other person can hardly hit a note. Perfect. Yet the sense that The Weeknd lives on another plane of reality remains quite evident for the rest of the show.
We already knew that he isn’t the most charismatic nor the most eloquent artist, and we have certainly seen his acting skills. That is why the moments when he asserts that “the first night is the most important and we have to make sure it is better than the second and the third” or repeats that he loves Madrid for the tenth time feel somewhat more artificial than usual. Although it seems he has improved certain aspects compared to the previous version of the tour, there remains a huge need for sensitivity on his part. It is a pity that there is no emotional weight tied to his destructively powerful alter ego. Ironically, and in keeping with his lyrics, the only thing missing from The Weeknd to have a perfect show is a heart.
