The Weeknd was most definitely up to the challenge.
In fact, he made it look almost easy.
The R&B-pop superstar looked as natural and as comfortable playing a big football stadium as the Rolling Stones or U2 — which is pretty much the opposite of what you’d expect from someone who has just made the leap up from arenas and embarked on his first stadium tour.
From the moment the lights went down, the multiplatinum-selling Canadian vocalist — whose real name is Abel Tesfaye — was able to captivate the 51,896 fans in attendance with a combination of hit songs, sheer personality and charisma, vocal ability and one of the most elaborate stage productions this critic has ever witnessed.
The massive main stage set was modeled after the city of Toronto — the star’s hometown — offering up a multi-story depiction of the city’s skyline, complete with the landmark CN Tower. On the opposite side of the football field was a secondary stage erected under a giant moon. The two stages were connected by a long elevated walkway that ran, like 49er Deebo Samuel on a big pass play, pretty much across the entire course of the field.
The Weeknd is supporting two albums — 2020’s “After Hours” and this year’s “Dawn FM” — which is how you end up with the combo After Hours til Dawn Tour name. Of course, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. The singer was originally supposed to launch an arena tour in 2020, back before “Dawn FM” probably wasn’t much more than a gleam in his eye.
By now, we all know what happened next — because it happened to basically every artist with a road show in the works in 2020 — as the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to postpone the tour dates. In the Weeknd’s case, the trek was postponed multiple times. Meanwhile, the singer was able to record and release yet another hit album, watch “Blinding Lights” become one of the most successful singles of all time and see his already towering level of fame grow even taller thanks to his Super Bowl LV halftime performance in 2021.
Is it any wonder that promoters decided to scrap the arena tour idea and go for stadiums instead?
The sold-out Levi’s date is proof that the move to the bigger houses is no commercial stretch. And the Weeknd would use his time onstage in Santa Clara to show that its no artistic stretch either.
The singer was in fine vocal form throughout the 29-song show, which kicked off at 9:15 p.m. as a sun was shown rising over the mini-Toronto on the big stage. As the new day dawned, the Weeknd appeared wearing a mask — part “Phantom of the Opera” and part “Mardi Gras” — and proceeded to croon his way through “Alone Again,” one of six songs offered up from “After Hours” on this night.
He was accompanied onstage by 22 people, wearing red robes and splitting their time between doing cool synchronized dance routines and (more frequently) just standing nearly motionless on the long walkway and stages
The pyrotechnics and other related special effects went into overdrive during “The Hills” — one of three selections played from 2015’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” — as flames besieged the Toronto stage set and a cloud of dark, smelly smoke was pushed out into the audience, giving this critic one more reason to feel grateful for wearing an N-95 mask to the show.
The laser-and-light show was incredibly impressive, especially the lights that shot skyward from the sides of the walkway and combined to create a luminous column that towered many stories above the stadium.
Here’s a look at the set list, according to my notes and information from setlist.fm:
Alone Again
Gasoline
Sacrifice
How Do I Make You Love Me?
Can’t Feel My Face
Take My Breath
Hurricane
The Hills
Often
Crew Love
Starboy
Heartless
Low Life
Or Nah
Kiss Land
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
Source: www.mercurynews.com