The Weeknd Shows Out at His 'After Hours til Dawn' Stop in Miami

The first time I saw ‘The Weeknd’ perform was at the Delano Hotel in South Beach on New Year's Eve 2013. ‘Kiss Land’ had just come out a couple months prior and ‘The Weeknd’ was a much smaller act. It was an intimate show of no more than three hundred people which was great for me because I had been a fan of ‘The Weeknd’ since his debut mixtape ‘House of Balloons’. Fast forward a little less than a decade later and ‘The Weeknd’ is not only a household name but hosting one of the most anticipated stadium tours across North America.

I was lucky enough to attend the Miami stop of the tour at the sold-out ‘Hard Rock Stadium’ which holds about 65,000 people. The show started around 7pm with ‘Mike Dean’ who is a fantastic musician and with his synths created a mystical aura early on in the day. He was then followed by ‘Kaytranada’ whose music is very upbeat and groovy which got the people dancing and prepared for the main act. About an hour later it was time for ‘The Weeknd’ to take the stage. It was obvious that fans were dying to see him with them chanting “Abel, Abel” before he had even made an appearance. Then the music started playing, the lights got bright, ‘The Weeknd’ appeared in a mask with a built-out skyline behind him and it was officially showtime. The Weeknd made great use of the giant stage making sure that not a single part of it went untouched in order to give everyone in the stadium a good view. Speaking of good views, I was granted a floor seat (huge thank you to CB) where I stood up on to watch the entire show because every single person that was on the ground level was standing on top of their chairs out of pure excitement and enjoyment to see Abel.

The ‘After Hours til Dawn’ show was without a doubt the absolute best concert I’ve ever been to, and I’ve seen plenty. The production was mind-blowing, the song transitions were perfectly executed, each flowing into the next one without any lapses, along with ‘The Weeknd’ not missing a single beat. It was so evident how much had gone into the production to produce such an unforgettable experience. Not only that but the setlist for the show was damn near perfect. ‘The Weeknd’ played all the recent hits such as ‘Can't Feel My Face’, ‘Starboy’, & ‘Blinding Lights’ but also older classics such as ‘Kiss Land’, ‘Wicked Games’, and ‘The Morning’ which the diehard OG XO fans loved. Mix that in with standout records from ‘After Hours’ and ‘Dawn FM’ and you get nothing but 2 hours of amazing music by one of the best performers in the game. ‘The Weeknd’ at one point in the show had the entire crowd singing the chorus to the ‘After Hours’ title track and they did not miss a beat (myself included). If you're reading this and you have a chance to attend one of the stops on this tour don’t even hesitate, just go because you’ll be glad you did. Get tickets HERE

Meet the Talent

Lantz Martin
Born and raised in Miami, FL Lantz Martin bought his first camera in 2017 and hasn't looked back. His photography focuses mainly on music and sports, some of which are of the biggest names in their respective fields such as Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Anuel AA, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, etc. He's also worked directly with the FTX Arena, Revolution Live, Vibra Urbana, Black Eyed Peas, and more.

Live Show ReviewHeather KoeppAugust 7, 2022The Weeknd, Live Show, Concert, Concerts, Miami, Hard Rock Stadium, After Hours til Dawn, Sold Out, Concert ReviewsComment