After initially intending on heading down to Australia in 2023 but unfortunately having his tour postponed, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, professionally known as The Weeknd, finally took to the stage in Melbourne at Marvel Stadium last night on Saturday the 5th of October 2024. It has been 7 years since The Weeknd toured Australia and oh boy, his After Hours Til Dawn Tour was well worth the wait!
For some, this was a long awaited reunion with their favourite singer-songwriter. For others, including myself, this was the first time that many would be seeing the Canadian artist perform live, and let me tell you, I was excited. I’ve been wanting to see The Weeknd live ever since I saw his epic performance at the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show in 2021.
Although titled the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, there have been some significant changes. The show no longer has a floating moon in the venue. Instead, it has a new set up which made its debut earlier last month in São Paulo, Brazil, which was live streamed to the world. The stage setup consists of a long catwalk with an ancient ruin cathedral-like building placed at the middle. On the big screens, doors were shown that teased opening, with just a little bit of light seeping through.
As soon the giant digital doors opened, everyone collectively knew that it was time for the show to begin. The Melbourne venue was filled with light as The Weeknd emerged from the roof of the previously described old looking building. It took a moment for fans to realise where he was located on the stage, but after a brief pause, the Marvel Stadium venue erupted into cheers.
Although the upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow has no release date yet, songs from The Weeknd’s new era were performed including ‘The Crowd’, ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Take Me Back to LA’, ‘Regular’, ‘São Paulo’, as well as his two recent singles, ‘Dancing In The Flames’ (a new favourite of mine), and his collaboration track with rapper Playboi Carti, ‘Timeless’.
Visually, the After Hours Til Dawn Tour looked to be a very religious affair, as alongside the ancient relic looking building, The Weeknd’s dancers were all dressed in red robes while the Canadian musician wore his own long robe but coloured black with gold accents. As The Weeknd enthusiastically waved his arms in the air to encourage patrons to sing along, which they did on many occasions throughout the night, it felt like a religious experience too. For what could be more special than freely singing at the top of your lungs with an artist you love? Nothing tops this.
The Weeknd was infectiously charming, addressing “Melbourne” and “Australia” throughout the concert in a way that I’ve seen no artist do before. I found it funny when he asked in a sing-song voice, “Do you wanna go home?” with the audience quickly replying back in the same way, “NO!”.
Extremely affectionate and interactive with his audience, The Weeknd would often wave, point out fans having a good time that he could see, blew kisses into the crowd and even consistently crouched down from the tall stage to smile down at fans. He also had the Melbourne audience clap, dance, jump or wave their arms in the air, energising the already hyped venue. So, when he stated “MELBOURNE, I’M SORRY IT’S BEEN TOO LONG. BUT I LOVE YOU! YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU!”, it felt genuine and I believed he meant it.
From the beginning to the very end, The Weeknd had the Melbourne audience eating out of the palm of his hand, not just for his sweet and likeable personality, nor his captivating stage presence, but for his voice. The Weeknd has a gorgeous falsetto, his vocals were smooth, clean, and truly felt like they soared above the Melbourne audience, wanting to escape the closed Marvel Stadium roof.
If The Weeknd’s mesmerising vocals alone weren’t enough to impress you, the staging, production, pyrotechnics and set would. Honestly, I’ve never seen so much fire at a concert in my life! Plus, all the hits were there including, ‘Starboy’, ‘Can’t Feel My Face’, the groovy ‘I Feel It Coming’, banger ‘Take My Breath’, hardcore fan favourite singalongs, ‘After Hours’, ‘Call Out My Name’ and ‘Save Your Tears’, and the epic and my personal favourite ‘The Hills’. For hardcore fans, you still get your moon, just a digital one with ‘Often’. The debut single ‘Wicked Games’ and the solo version of ‘Die For You’ were also played.
At the end of the night, the highly anticipated and iconic ‘Blinding Lights’ was performed, with the stage appropriately lit and flashing bright lights. The opening notes of the song, alongside the literal blinding lights, emitted and inspired an unrivalled joy. This was wholesome and welcoming to witness as The Weeknd’s diverse Melbourne audience, filled with fans young and old of every race and colour, jumped up and down, and danced together in pure happiness. It was beautiful.
When it was time for The Weeknd to leave, the giant doors that we had seen at the beginning, appeared again to firmly close, and the magnificent singer-songwriter disappeared as mysteriously as he came.
Overall, The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour first Melbourne concert was an exhilarating and long overdue delight for all who were there. It was a privilege spending my weekend with The Weeknd. We even got the best version of the tour as we were lucky enough to have The Weeknd’s new Hurry Up Tomorrow songs in the set, alongside all the gems that we’ve come to know and love from him. This is one concert tour you certainly cannot miss.
The Weeknd performed his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, proudly presented by Live Nation Australia, in Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Saturday the 5th of October, has another show tonight on Sunday the 6th of October, before heading to Sydney later this month on Tuesday the 22nd and Wednesday the 23rd of October at Accor Stadium.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.livenation.com.au/artist-the-weeknd-474869
https://www.theweeknd.com
https://www.instagram.com/theweeknd
Photography by Rick Clifford.
