For nearly thirty-one years I have been interviewing music artists and doing live concert reviews. In that time, I have had the pleasure of reviewing such legendary bands as the Rolling Stones, BB King, Journey, etc. Last night, I had the opportunity to review an artist I believe will be one of the most legendary performers I will have had the pleasure to review.
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida hosted The Weeknd for a one-night, sold-out concert that was beyond exciting and entertaining. Filled to capacity on a hot summer night, the stadium quickly filled up hours before the start of the show in anticipation of what was to be an amazing show.
For this event, there were two openers that pre-gamed they show and warmed-up the crowd. The openers featured Mike Dean and Haitian-Canadian producer Kaytranada. After their pulse-pounding sets, the stager crew began to make the final preparations for what was to be one on the absolute best concert experiences I have seen n a very long time.
The stage was extremely huge and featured an almost 3D appearance to it as it contained a physical city structure, along with a digital city scene behind it. From the center of the stage, a long catwalk extended out to the back of the stadium allowing those from just about anywhere in the stadium to feel like they were within the first twenty rows, giving everyone a great visual vantage point of the performance. At the end of the catwalk was a gigantic, inflated structure of the moon hanging from the rafters that lit up in different colors throughout the show. When entering the stadium, fans were given electronic bracelets that, at certain times during the performance, they would light up different colors, providing a lighted spectacular throughout the stadium, something I have never experienced before.
Pop star Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, took to the stage to a roaring crowd of fans and launched the concert with "Alone Again", "Gasoline", And "Sacrifice" (Swedish House Mafia Remix). As the performance went on, the city behind him began to smoke and catch fire, eventually bringing the city to burn to the ground.
The Weeknd performed a few songs at the front of the stage, but performed mostly in the center of the catwalk. Red-veiled dancers accompanied him throughout the performance and added a very dramatic element while adding to the story of the songs being performed. Of course The Weeknd brought out his biggest hits the included "I Can't Feel My Face", "Starboy", "The Hills", "I Feel It Coming", and "Heartless". The Weeknd closed out the show with "Save Your Tears", "Less than Zero", and "Blinding Lights".
At the end of the performance, the post-apocalyptic city has risen into a modern, more futuristic city signaling a new beginning. The Weeknd thanked his fans and dropped a hint that for the next tour, there just might be a two-night concert schedule for Miami.
If you have the opportunity to go out and see this amazing performer, I think you will be satisfied and thrilled that you did.
Performance Set-List
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- "Alone Again"
- "Gasoline"
- "Sacrifice (Swedish House Mafia Remix)"
- "How Do I Make You Love Me?"
- "Can't Feel My Face"
- "Take My Breath"
- "Hurricane" (Kanye West cover)
- "The Hills"
- "Often"
- "Crew Love" (Drake cover)
- "Starboy"
- "Heartless"
- "Low Life" (Future cover)
- "Or Nah" (Ty Dolla $ign cover)
- "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"
ROCKBANDREVIEWS.COM / 2023
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