The Weeknd came to Levi’s Stadium on July 8, 2025 as a part of his After Hours Till Dawn tour. The concert’s openers were The Weeknd’s producer Mike Dean, followed by rapper Playboi Carti.
I saw The Weeknd during his tour in 2023, and I have been a fan for six years. The Weeknd has released a “trilogy” of new albums, the newest one being Hurry Up Tomorrow. This tour is supposedly his last with the moniker “The Weeknd.” While it is unclear what this means for the future of his career, it seems that he is attempting to evolve as an artist, leaving his current persona behind. He may continue making music under his real name, Abel Tesfaye but either way, I am grateful to have seen him as The Weeknd for what could be the last time.
As my friends and I wandered into the ginormous stadium and made our way to our nosebleed seats, we listened to Mike Dean’s production. Mike Dean is a producer with a distinct 80s sound of atmospheric synth. While he seems to hide under his hoodie and avoid the spotlight himself, I think he is the reason for the increase of synth on The Weeknd’s newest albums.
After we found our section and I scarfed down my delicious ten dollar hot dog, Playboi Carti took to the stage. He had a hype man with him telling people to stand up and put their arms in the air, but with the sun still out and many stadium seats still empty, we just sat and observed. Carti performed his hit songs like “Sky” and “FE!N” but he seemed to be just rapping over the original song. The funniest part of his performance was when he performed the song “Timeless” – a song by the Weeknd where Carti is a feature – without the Weeknd. Later in the show during The Weeknd’s set, Playboi Carti came back out and they performed it together which, of course, sounded way better. So, we saw that one twice.
The Weeknd came out at 8:40, shockingly early to me, while there was still some light out. His show opened with dancers fully covered up in flowy red dresses, their faces hidden from sight, slowly walking out onto the stage and doing contemporary, slow motion dance moves. The Weeknd himself was wearing a gold mask to cover his face while he sang the first few songs. The first song of the set was “The Abyss,” a beautiful piece off of his most recent album – it features another artist I love, Lana Del Rey, and includes lines evoking heaven, loss, and the afterlife.
“Just hold my heartbeat close to you
Remember how it always beats for you
I’m falling at the speed of light
I’m staring at your shrinking face, don’t cry…
The only words that gave me life
Now I’ll see you on the other side”
After a few songs he took his mask off, and the crowd went absolutely insane at this reveal, screaming for several minutes straight while The Weeknd stood and smiled. He said that we were the best crowd yet…who knows. I have never trusted artists when they say that.
The Weeknd performed tracks from throughout his career as well, with about 42 songs total in the setlist. While he included a large section of songs from his newest album, he also performed snippets of tracks from his earliest albums, such as Trilogy and Kiss Land. The album and song “Kiss Land” is a notorious fan-favorite album which he introduced by saying, “This is for OG XO fans!” (XO is the name of The Weeknd’s fanbase). It cracks me up when he says that.
At one point The Weeknd asked the crowd where everyone was from. “Who here is from San Francisco? Oakland? Berkeley? San Jose?” Yes, there was a Berkeley shoutout! Most people cheered for San Jose, but don’t worry, I cheered for Berkeley. Consistently throughout the show he also sings “I love you Bay Area,” and frequently changes the lyrics of the songs to incorporate the location, such as changing “I would die for you” to “I would die for you Bay Area”(“Die For You”). I also find this hilarious, he just sings non-stop.
The crowd went the craziest for the Weeknd’s top hits such as “Starboy,” “Blinding Lights,” and “Die For You,” which were performed with lasers, flashing lights, fireworks, and the crowd’s light-up bracelets blinking red, green, blue, and gold. Everyone, including myself, was singing and dancing along, which is the best feeling ever when there is a stadium full of tens of thousands of people.
The Weeknd’s show at Levi’s stadium was an incredibly fun experience because of the energy in the crowd combined with my love and knowledge of his music. I am looking forward to seeing how The Weeknd develops in his career, especially if he does change his name, and I look forward to seeing future shows.
Review by Dahlia Kapelke
