How’s this for irony: an hour after millions receive an emergency phone alert warning against “any activity that could start a fire”, The Weeknd unleashes enough pyrotechnics on Wembley Stadium to raze London to the ground.
Turns out that 10ft flames and a succession of big budget firework displays are probably the least dramatic thing about The After Hours til Dawn Tour. For a start, the stage is dressed as a post-apocalyptic cityscape. Then there’s the 40ft golden android rotating at the centre of a sprawling, crucifix-shaped walkway, not to mention the ritualistic choreography performed by 30-odd cloaked and masked dancers, who resemble extras from Eyes Wide Shut.
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Dark drama has always been Abel Tesfaye’s calling card. From his early mixtapes to last year’s LP Hurry Up Tomorrow, the Canadian R&B star has made nihilistic tales of dead-eyed hedonism and existential dread a mainstream concern, to the extent that this is already the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist. And despite rumours of his retirement, at the first of five Wembley Stadium dates he’s already talking of returning to play a further 10.
It’s difficult to imagine how much more he could have in the tank. In the space of two hours, Tesfaye prowls every inch of the walkway, greets fans on the barriers and welcomes back support act Playboi Carti for two features, across the space of 39 songs. With hits like Creepin’ and Often demoted to short snippets, there is the sense he’s spreading himself a little thin at times, but when songs are given the oxygen they catch fire.
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Daft Punk-co-write Starboy is a show-stealer, while the early-hours euphoria of Blinding Lights still justifies every single one of its 5.5 billion Spotify streams. Better still is The Hills, its brooding malevolence accentuated by giant fireballs and the ominous, blood-red twinkle of the audience’s LED wristbands.
It’s pretty extraordinary to hear 60,000 people bellow along to ‘House of Balloons’, an unapologetic coke binge of a track, featuring a chorus interpolating Siouxsie and the Banshees. It’s also a timely reminder that the mainstream remains all the more weird and wonderful for Tesfaye’s presence.
