Of all the things you might expect global superstar The Weeknd to be tweeting about on Saturday afternoon in the build up to his huge Etihad Stadium concert, a warning about the sweltering heat in Manchester was probably not it. The Weeknd was keen to warn his thousands of fans though - many of whom queued outside for hours on the hottest day of the year to get in - "It's hot in Manchester! Keep hydrated."
Not that the megastar did much to cool his fans down with the huge stadium spectacular which was to follow on Saturday night - complete with fire shooting out from the stage. Sizzling temperatures aside, The Weeknd, aka Ethiopian-Canadian Abel Tesfaye, is undoubtedly the hottest star in the world right now, racking up more Spotify listens than any other artist by some distance.
He's here in Manchester for the first UK show of his After Hours Til Dawn tour, the name an amalgam of his two latest albums: After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022). Fresh from the launch of his controversial HBO series 'The Idol' just a week ago, he's back on stage and the excitement is palpable.
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Many people's love affair with the Weeknd probably started with The Hills. His music - a blend of alternative R&B, post-hip hop and pop, is catchy, ethereal and sometimes chilling, with that haunting falsetto and strong hints of the narcissist in his lyrics.
His mostly dark songs, centreing on addictions of one kind or another, basically add up to music you feel you really shouldn't like, but just can't help yourself...
And the crowd tonight are no exception. Against a backdrop of skyscrapers, the man himself appears, all in white with a silver mask.
There's no messing about as he launches straight into his set. The singing along starts instantly, with an unusually high number of people seeming to know EVERY word to EVERY track.
It's not until a few songs in though that the visual spectacle gets going, with The Hills, alight with the sound of music, flames surrounding the stage.
"It's hot in Manchester and I wanna party all f****** night!" he tells a screaming sea of fans.
We're treated to an impressive number of hits, even if if does all seem a bit conveyor belt-ish to start with.
Popular, his collab with Madonna and Playboi Carti, is in among them, followed by Often, Starboy and House of Balloons.
He's trailed throughout by veiled dancers cum followers dressed all in white, a giant female robot spookily overlooking proceedings.
It's quite a few songs later before those extraordinary vocals get the showcase they deserve, rather than being somewhat drowned out at times by the music.
Low Life and Party Monster are followed by a rather special Faith, where he finally unmasks and sends the audience into a trance-like state with those other-wordly vocals.
Other highlights include the blatantly unambiguous I Feel It Coming, a wonderfully raw Wicked Games and the plaintive Call Out My Name.
Save Your Tears changes the vibe to poppy, followed by Less Than Zero and a superbly atmospheric finale of Blinding Lights, the whole stadium twinkling.
Visually, there were no costume changes at all, for either the Weeknd or his entirely white clad followers, seemingly thus kitted out to create a dramatic, cult-like effect, but one that, after a while, became a little samey.
Crucially though, the vocals were, predictably, superb, as was the energy. The crowd's only disappointment being they didn't get an encore.
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