As the “moon” changes the color from gray to cobalt blue, world-class singer The Weeknd rocked the stage after a three hour opening act performed by Mike Dean and Snoh Aalegra at AT&T stadium for his Dallas stop of the “After Hours til Dawn Tour”. In a stadium of about 60,000 people, The Weeknd was a hero. Praised and admired by teens and adults alike, screaming lyrics about love, vanity and death, themes prevalent in the contemporary world. 

From the surreal experience of exploring the evolution of the Weeknd’s sound universe to the intense crowd reaction to his performance. As the stadium chanted “Abel” and “XO forever”, the weeknd arrived on stage with his dancers, all females covered in red vile moved synchronously with the music under the moon set in the middle of the stadium. 

The performance began with the new songs from his recent album “After Hours” mixed with medleys from his other popular albums such as “My Dear Melancholy” and “Starboy”. The lighting and stage design closely followed the singer’s voice and the audience was also given lights that beat throughout the song. 

Despite the wonderful props and amazing audience experience, there were indeed some flaws throughout the experience that made this concert experience feel like a rollercoaster. For example, the ticket informed the audience to show up to the arena at 6:30 PM while the appearance of the Weeknd did not happen until 9:00 PM. Though there were indeed opening acts, the division of time between the acts are uneven, especially for fans that came directly to see The Weeknd. Secondly, the price of the merchandise was heavily overpriced with a sweater at a mounting price of $82. 

Overall, the experience of “After Hours til Dawn Tour” was truly mind blowing, however, there were definitely areas that could’ve been improved. Recently, as the North American part of the tour marks an end, The Weeknd has created a haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights over the theme of  “After Hour” that awaits visitors during this fall season.