Review: The Weeknd’s dazzling tour-opening After Hours Till Dawn show at the Linc

The weekend started early on Thursday in South Philadelphia when The Weeknd — that is, the Canadian R&B singer and pop star born Abel Tesfaye — played a visually dazzling, musically satisfying show to kick off his After Hours Til Dawn tour at Lincoln Financial Field.

It wasn’t supposed to be opening night. The initial show had been scheduled for last week at the Rogers Centre in the singer’s native Toronto, but that date was canceled just hours before the show due to a telecommunications network outage in Canada.

So it was on to Philadelphia, where The Weeknd has a history of headlining outdoor shows, including both the Roots Picnic and Made in America in 2015, as he spent the last decade progressing from moody, enigmatic alt-R&B singer to global pop star.

He was well-prepared to make a splash In South Philly with the 1-hour-45-minute career-spanning show that he has called “my opera.” It turns out that over July 4 weekend, The Weeknd was in town using the Linc as a rehearsal space, which accounts for the comfort level he obviously felt on Thursday’s remarkably seamless tour debut.

Tesfaye, who is the son of Ethiopian immigrants, was scheduled to play a date across the street from the Linc at the Wells Fargo Center back in April on what was then called the After Hours tour, named after his fourth album released early in the pandemic.

That arena jaunt was canceled, however, and after Tesfaye surprise released another album, Dawn FM, this January, the trek was reborn under its new name with red-hot singer-rapper Doja Cat as its opener.

Then she canceled late last month, with tonsil surgery the reason given. Instead, Thursday’s show was opened with a DJ set by Mike Dean followed by Kaytranada, the Haitian Canadian producer who skillfully warmed up the crowd with live mixes of tracks created with Kali Uchis, Normani, and H.E.R. And in case there was any confusion, he made it clear that he’s not merely a DJ: “I make beats!” he declared.

And then, at long last: The Weeknd arrived.Or rather, he did after an enormous orb so big to the naked eye that it put this week’s Supermoon to shame appeared opposite the Linc’s main stage, which was designed to look like a Blade Runner style post apocalyptic city-scape.

Then, after 20 minutes of the crowd standing as bass heavy synth waves washed over them, Tesfaye appeared. “Take off my disguise, I’m living someone else’s life,” he sang, from After Hours “Alone Again,” a song with a strip club setting and theme that is a Weeknd favorite: how debauchery does not lead to ultimate personal fulfillment, no matter how hard you try.

Dressed in black, he was accompanied by a couple of dozen spooky looking robed figures — I wouldn’t call them dancers — with faces covered, who were present in processionals throughout the show. (When dressed in red, they looked disturbingly like the women in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.)

What followed found The Weeknd singing — in technically impressive fashion — at least partial versions of 29 songs. The set was built around the poppier After Hours, and Dawn FM, which is fashioned as concept album in which a lone motorist travels through purgatory seeking redemption that never comes.

The show delivered plenty of emotional release. Tesfaye threw himself into the performance. A runway allowed him to travel from one end of the football field-sized floor to the other, where a second stage was set up under a glowing inflatable moon.

He was confident enough of the Michael Jackson-influenced new material to include many of his biggest hits from earlier in his career like “I Can’t Feel My Face” early part of the set.His vocal on “Call Out My Name,” from his 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, conveyed real urgency and desperation.

But the coolest thing about the show was how it looked. Oversize concerts are usually about video screens. We spend all day looking at our phones and computers and then go to the big concert and watch our heroes on giant screens.

At the Linc, there were a pair of modestly-sized screens offering close-ups for fans furthest away from the main stage. But for most, there were no giant images to look at. Or band to see, for that matter.

Presumably, there were musicians hidden in a pit beneath the stage, unless Tesfaye — whose name, “A-bel, A-bel!” was frequently called out by fans — was singing to recordings.

Instead, the mostly age 30 and below fans were freed up to be captivated by the music itself and the spectacle of the entire open air venue lit up with electric energy. Including the flashing lights on synchronized wrist watches that distributed upon entry.

From the start to finale - which was of course the hyper catchy “Blinding Lights,” the 2020 hit that is Spotify’s second most streamed song of all time - the whole thing looked fabulous. It amounted to a joyous reimagining of the stadium show experience by a pop star who’s managed to retain an air of mystery even as he’s now made the move to the most massive stages.