He's one of the world's biggest music stars right now, and The Weeknd is about to bring his spectacular new stadium tour to Manchester. Heading here, fittingly, at the weekend, he will undoubtedly bring the party on what is set to be a scorching Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.
Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd - real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye - heads to the UK on his ongoing After Hours Til Dawn global stadium tour. The American leg of the tour broke records for the numbers of tickets sold.
But then The Weeknd is accustomed to being a record-breaker - according to the Guinness Book of World Records, he is officially the most popular music act on the planet right now. They crunched the stats to proclaim that "no one comes close" to the star in terms of the number of monthly listens on Spotify that rank in the tens of millions.
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The tour celebrates The Weeknd’s 2020 album After Hours (its hit single Blinding Lights was named the new No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song of all time, surpassing Chubby Checker’s 1960 hit The Twist), as well as his critically-acclaimed album Dawn FM, which was released January 2022.
So what can fans expect from the show? Well images seen from earlier tour dates promise something nothing short of spectacular - including incredible staging with huge robots and even the world making an appearance.
Here's more info on what to expect if you're one of the 60,000 fans heading along to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Who are the support acts?
The Weeknd will be supported in Manchester by Kaytranada and Mike Dean.
Haitian-Canadian DJ and producer Kaytranda is known for his electronic dance music that draws from a wide variety of musical styles.
Meanwhile long-term collaborator, American music producer Mike Dean, has also been listed to join The Weeknd on this tour.
What are the stage times?
Doors open at the Etihad Stadium at 4.00pm, with the live entertainment set to start by 7pm. Official stage times have not yet been given by organisers of the show for the support acts, but will be updated here when they do.
Stage times are always subject to change so the advice is always to get to the stadium early to get through the security checks. For guidance, at the other dates on his tour so far, The Weeknd has taken to the stage at 9pm.
Setlist
Naturally, setlists are always liable to change each night on an artist's tour. But here's the songs that The Weeknd performed at the most recent gigs of the After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour - in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 6.
Take My Breath
Sacrifice
How Do I Make You Love Me?
Can't Feel My Face
Lost in the Fire
Hurricane
The Hills
Often
Crew Love
Starboy
House of Balloons
Heartless
Low Life
Reminder
Party Monster
Faith
After Hours
Out of Time
I Feel It Coming
Die for You
Is There Someone Else?
I Was Never There
Wicked Games
Call Out My Name
The Morning
Save Your Tears
Less Than Zero
Blinding Lights
ENCORE
Double Fantasy
Creepin'
Popular
How to get there
The Etihad is located a mile and a half east of the city centre and is easy to get to using public transport.
The nearest mainline train station is Manchester Piccadilly. From there, you can catch a tram to the Etihad Campus Metrolink stop (which is right outside the stadium), take a taxi from outside the Store Street exit, or walk (around 30 to 40 minutes).
You can also catch a tram directly from any of the following city centre stops: Deansgate-Castlefield, St Peter's Square, Piccadilly Gardens or Piccadilly Station. Take the Ashton-under-lyne or Etihad Campus lines.
The Metrolink network is very busy on concert nights so allow plenty of time for travel.
Take a look at our full guide to concerts at the Etihad stadium for more detailed information on public transport, driving directions and parking.
Is there food and drink at the stadium?
There's a whole raft of food and drink options both outside the Etihad Stadium and also once inside the concert. Expect burgers and chips, burritos, hotdogs, chill nachos and Manchester's famous Norther Soul grilled cheese sandwiches.
There are food vans specifically catering for vegeterians, vegans. There's also a range of soft drinks and alcoholic drinks to buy both in and outside of the stadium.
You won't be allowed to take food inside with you though, so be aware if you buy food around the ground you'll need to eat it all up before you head to your seats.
Is there parking at the stadium?
There is car parking at the stadium, but this is limited and must be pre-booked here . It is highly recommended however to use public transport to the stadium. There are a number of pay-for car parks in the city centre that can be used close to tram stops at Piccadilly, Manchester Central and Oxford Street and then take the tram to the Etihad Campus.
If you're parking around the stadium, a road closure operates immediately after the event to allow pedestrians to leave the Etihad Stadium safely. This is in place for approximately 20 minutes after the end of the show. This is, however, subject to GMP approval and may be in place for longer than stated above. Roads affected by the closure are as follows:
Ashton New Road – between Alan Turing Way and Darley Street
Grey Mare Lane – between Ashton New Road and Alan Turing Way
Merrill Street – between Pollard Street and Ashton New Road
Walking map
It's around a 30 to 40 minute walk from Piccadilly Train Station all the way to the Etihad Stadium and is actually a fairly straightforward route that lots of other fans will be walking on the night.
Here's a map of the route.
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