The Weeknd Shows He’s the King of It at Ford Field
The Weeknd brought his ‘After Hours Till Dawn’ tour to Ford Field for a back-to-back run on Memorial Day weekend, and we were fortunate enough to witness it first-hand on May 24.
The setlist was a layer after layer, banger after banger success, which amplified the set. Dramatically, the artist who will potentially soon only be labeled as Abel Tesfaye took to the stage with a mask covering his eyes, cloaked and flanked by shrouded dancers.
With shortened cuts of many of the tracks, he was able to pack in 39 of his signature tracks into the show – a feat, but also, did not seem overboard. The production value of the stage and dancers kept even a loose Weeknd fan afloat by the spectacle and camera work from the screens, but it was also a surprise to see Abel so engaged. He occasionally addressed the crowd, got everyone hyped up, and continued with his lyrics. While this isn’t something new or unique to a performer, it surprised me that he was that attached to the crowd’s response back at him, as if it was fueling his performance on his end.
Some of our favorite parts of the set were hearing some of the most iconic of songs from The Weeknd, including “Starboy,” “Often,” and “The Hills,” but also some of the cuts that weren’t radio hits like “Take My Breath” and “Kiss Land.” Those who made it through the entire journey were also able to see some songs that were a surprise, like “High For This,” which hasn’t been performed by The Weeknd since 2016, and a callback to his famous Super Bowl performance with “Blinding Lights.”
The show was something to behold, and we absolutely felt as if this start to Summer was a big one for Detroit to have as one of the first dates on the tour. We highly recommend that you snag yourself tickets if you were on the fence, as this tour ends in September. See if there’s a date close to you at theweeknd.com/tour. And if not? Book a vacation! The world’s burning, might as well dance it out.