My Long-Awaited “After Hours Til Dawn” Experience
Written By GEMSeptember 9, 2022I can say without a doubt that the 928-day wait, and 344-mile-long journey from Cleveland, Ohio, to Chicago, Illinois to see the “After Hours Til Dawn” show was worth it. To be honest, I was riddled with anxiety after his first show in Toronto, Canada was canceled due to a city-wide internet outage.
It seemed as though this tour was cursed with random occurrences getting in the way. Even after the unfortunate Doja Cat cancellation, I was nervous to see how Mike Dean, Kaytranada, and Snoh Aalegra would take the Grammy award winner performers' place at such short notice. But somehow, they pulled it off!
With my Chicago show being so early on in the tour I was able to avoid a lot of spoilers from other fans at the shows for what to expect for this evening; so once I saw Abel peeking out over a dark and destroyed city skyline wearing a plastic mask as he sings the lyrics to “Alone Again” as an opener, I was perplexed, to say the least.
As I write this review I’m relistening to the setlist able to envision every chilling moment from my bedroom. Tiny details such as changing the lyrics from Vegas to Chicago in ”In Vegas, I feel so at home” are what made the performance and energy from Abel so memorable and made the show feel more personal. That’s incredibly hard to do when you’re entertaining a room of over 60,000 people.
Some highlights of the night included the jaw-dropping song transitions strategically and beautifully placed throughout the night. Each song is threaded together deliberately painting a picture and telling a story.
But the one transition that gave me chills had to be between “Is There Someone Else?” to “I Was Never There.” The whiny alarm intro playing on its own, teasing the bass drop added so much more satisfaction for when it actually came.
Of course, personal favorites like “Out Of Time” were high on my “Most Excited To Finally Hear Live” list I had in my head anticipating the concert. “Die For You” was also incredibly pleasing to witness, even my mom asked me to film this part of the show for her. The fans sitting beside me screamed those breakup lyrics back to Abel at the top of their lungs-even those of us still in happy and healthy relationships (such as I) felt all the emotions tied to the personal record.
“I Feel Like It Coming” set the bar for the most beautiful and sentimental part of the night. The wristbands given to us at the entrance of the stadium by the staff finally lit up and were synched to the rhythm of each song. The entire arena lit up with light blue glowing orbs swaying back and forth to the groovy beat. This goes on well into the setlist until Abel gets ready to wrap up the show with “Less Than Zero.”
The energy encapsulated in Abel’s 2021 Super Bowl performance was exactly what I was expecting for this tour and I commend Mr. Weeknd for putting on a show at that same level every night. His energy, his vocals, and goofy dance moves were everything and more.
Some diehard “OG XO fans” as Abel calls them may be surprised that I was so taken aback by how energetic Abel is live. To be fair, I’m not exactly sure if I can be considered an OG XO fan. I knew of him back in 2011 when he collaborated with Drake on “Crew Love.” And of course, I knew the Trilogy classics such as “High For This,” “Coming Down,” and “Wicked Games.” But I didn’t seriously become a fan until 2015 when “Beauty Behind The Madness” dropped when I was in high school.
With all that being said, I didn’t know very much about Abel going into this show. I rarely see him being interviewed, around paparazzi, or performing on major shows often enough to know what kind of entertainer I’m really paying for.
However, after getting to know him through “After Hours Til Dawn” (and many unsolicited fun facts from my sister who is an Abel fanatic-shout out to you), I learned that back in the mixtapes days The Weeknd was once an anonymous person floating around on the internet putting out classics because he was shy and valued his privacy.
I walked out of Soldier Field Stadium that night relating to Abel as far as wanting to stay under the radar but also have a successful career that touches people. His show actually inspired me to take this blog that you’re reading right now seriously. I too, publish my work under an alias, hide behind my art and let it speak for me. And The Weeknd is proof that you can be shy and still be a starboy.
