‘A Warm Welcome Home’: 6 Best Moments From The Weeknd’s Night 1 Concert at Toronto’s Rogers Centre

By the time The Weeknd got onstage, fans were ready to give him a hero’s welcome. There was still some dramatic distance at the start of the show before that could happen. He built up slowly, with recent tracks “The Abyss,” “Wake Me Up” and “After Hours” establishing the set and structure.

Tesfaye started behind a set of dancers dressed like red druids. It took multiple songs before we could see his face, as he remained hidden behind a gold-plated mask. The stage jutted into the floor like a cross. In the middle was the large chrome “Sexy Robot” statuette by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama, which functioned like a futuristic idol around which he and the dancers could encircle.

When his Daft Punk collab “Starboy” upped the tempo, the cross structure strobed like a rave and Tesfaye came alive. He returned to the stage for a dramatic face reveal, finally removing the mask slowly as the crowd cheered. The ovation lasted well over a minute, and Tesfaye basked in it. He started with a big toothy grin before getting choked up. As the cheers continued, his eyes got misty and he looked visibly choked up. “Well that’s a warm welcome home, isn’t it?” he said.

Like a true Toronto man, The Weeknd called the baseball stadium he was in by its original name: The Skydome. “Imagine, I used to watch Blue Jays games here,” he said.

Now, at one of the city’s biggest venues, playing in front of nearly 50,000 people, he was able to appreciate the beauty of the city. While the dome stayed closed during Kaytranada’s opening set, it opened before The Weeknd hit the stage, revealing the majestic CN Tower next to the stadium lit up in blue and green in honour of the artist (more on that below). “Look how beautiful the city looks,” he said.

The Weeknd received his hero’s welcome, not just from the fans but from the city itself. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow declared it “Weeknd Weekend,” recognizing his contributions not just on the global stage but his philanthropic and humanitarian contributions at home. Then on Saturday (July 26), in a private ceremony the day before the show, she presented Tesfaye with the key to the city.

“Born in Toronto, Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye represents the best of our city,” she said. “I am proud to honour one of our city’s greatest artists with a Key to the City to celebrate his contributions to music, society and our culture.”

In partnership with Live Nation, who produced the tour, Tesfaye committed to revitalize the basketball court and bring a mobile recording studio to the Boys & Girls Club of West Scarborough and help build a media arts and robotics computer lab, a dedicated dance and arts studio and a sensory room for students with developmental disabilities at his old Scarborough high school Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute.

The Weeknd has donated over $2 million to aid the crisis in Ethiopia and $4.5 million to feed millions in Gaza through his XO Humanitarian Fund. He’s also a co-founder of HXOUSE, a Toronto creative incubator supporting young entrepreneurs and creatives.

Playboi Carti wasn’t able to make it over the Canadian border for the Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver dates of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, but The Weeknd had the perfect opener waiting in the wings. Montreal dance producer Kaytranada, who served as an opener for the first After Hours Til Dawn run in 2022-23, rejoined the tour in Canada.

Performing at a stadium is a tough gig for an artists who feeds off the energy of a dancefloor, but Kaytranada did as well as anyone could. His funky dance moves held fans’ attention and got them cheering as they awaited The Weeknd. Though it felt more like a DJ-driven mood-setter than a conventional opener, it set the stage well for The Weeknd. His headlining set provided plenty of meat, with a 40-song setlist.

Mid-set, The Weeknd jumped down into the stands and got up close to the front row fans on either side of the floor.

He singled out two audience members, one with a sign that said “I got the lyrics” and the other with a sign that said “I got the ad libs.” He decided to put it to the test, and gave each one a moment on the mic for “Out of Time.” They both played their parts well.

Despite the high-concept persona play, stagecraft and fireworks (there was a spectacular amount of fireworks), at the heart of The Weeknd’s music are two things: his signature vocals and some serious pop hits.

He showcased his vocal range through the yearning ballads from his early days, singing beautiful falsettos on songs like “Wicked Games,” “High For This” and “House of Balloons” from his first House of Balloons mixtape. He’s come a long way from those shadowy and anonymous, druggy and nihilistic slow jams that built his hype in the early 2010s, but belting out those songs with his fans is still a major highlight. “It’s been a beautiful 15 years,” he said, thanking the audience.

The Weeknd also has plenty of major hits that can ignite any crowd, and they were the perfect sugar rush in a long and structured set. Songs like “Blinding Lights,” “Can’t Feel My Face” and “Moth To a Flame,” the closing collab with Swedish House Mafia, got the crowd up and moving and built to even bigger ovations. Tesfaye basked in it, conducting the audience’s cheers like an orchestra.

The Weeknd plays Rogers Centre again on Monday (July 28) and on Aug. 7-8.