The Weeknd brings spectacle as he makes up for postponed Toronto stadium concert
The Weeknd returned to his Toronto hometown on Thursday with all of the flames and fury of his spectacular live stadium concert.
More than two months after a nationwide Rogers network outage ruined the Canadian pop star's plans to kick off his world tour at home, he made up for it by rounding the massive show back to the city for the final stops on the North American leg.
"They're going to have to pull me off the stage tonight," he assured the crowd at the Rogers Centre.
Turns out, that wasn't exactly true.
Despite expectations that a surprise might've been in the works, The Weeknd stuck to the same 29-song setlist he's been performing at all stops on the After Hours Til Dawn Tour.
Against a massive set of a post-apocalyptic city, he sang a relentless run of hits that included "Can't Feel My Face," "I Feel It Coming," "Starboy" and "Blinding Lights," without sticking around for an encore.
Behind him, a dilapidated line of skyscrapers burst into flames, poured out smoke, and at one point appeared to collapse with the illusion of massive digital screens.
A group of dancers veiled entirely in red cloth walked in a rhythmic procession throughout much of the show, eventually making their way to a giant moon on the opposite side of the stadium.
Amid all of the bombast, the evening offered the singer, born Abel Tesfaye, an opportunity to bask in his success with a local crowd for the first time in years.
Tesfaye grew up in Scarborough, Ont., on the east end of Toronto, and it's here where he rose from buzzworthy Toronto artist to a force on the music charts. Eventually, that landed him a coveted spot as entertainment at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2021.
This was his first Toronto concert since his fourth studio album "After Hours" established him as one of the top artists in the industry.
And he told the crowd this homecoming reminded him why he makes music.
"My first show in Toronto -- my first show ever -- was the Mod Club in 2011," he recalled of the now-closed concert venue.
"Now we're doing the SkyDome back-to-back."
Tesfaye only referred to the Rogers-owned venue as SkyDome throughout the night.
He never uttered the name Rogers, or referenced the outage that forced him to cancel a little more than an hour before showtime in July.
It was one of several setbacks that faced the first leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour in a summer characterized by pandemic uncertainty for live events.
First, opening act Doja Cat dropped out due to tonsil surgery about a month before the shows were set to begin, while a large fire erupted outside the Las Vegas stadium where his fans were leaving a show in August.
Then in early September, Tesfaye lost his voice in the middle of his Los Angeles concert, leading him to postpone the performance to an undermined future date.
It seemed even the Toronto performance might've been headed towards trouble when Montreal DJ and opener Kaytranada's mixing equipment malfunctioned, leaving the notoriously shy artist to entertain the crowd for a few minutes of silence.
"(It was) probably too much heat," he joked before getting back to the music.
Fans didn't seem to mind and by the time The Weeknd hit the stage everything appeared to be running smoothly.
The Weeknd will return to play a second show on Friday night.
His After Hours Til Dawn Tour is then expected to launch further legs that move through Mexico, Europe, Asia and additional regions, though no specific announcements on the timing have been made yet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.