Last Saturday, the 7th, in Rio de Janeiro, it was extremely hot during the day and stormy at night. But neither situation stopped The Weeknd’s long-awaited show in Engenhão, which featured more than 40 hits, a safety warning for the production and chants with fans. Next Tuesday and Wednesday 10 and 11, the singer will also perform in São Paulo to complete his visit to Brazil.

The tour celebrates The Weeknd’s 2020 album “After hours”. For example, it contains “Blinding Lights”, which was voted the biggest single in history on the Billboard Hot 100. Discover 8 moments from the show in Rio de Janeiro and find out what was the first performance of “After hours til” by the star. The “Dawn” tour was like Brazil.

Storm

Lightning and thunder before intense rain fell on Rio caused the event’s production team to issue safety precautions due to the weather conditions. At 7:10 p.m., supporters of the racecourse and the premium track had to evacuate the premises and go to the covered part of the stadium, where they entered. Those occupying the lower and upper seats were instructed to do so. The situation remained like this for a good few minutes, even leaving people wondering if the show might be postponed or canceled. However, the public was then allowed to return to their seats.

Opening

What was planned for the evening were two opening shows before Abel, The Weeknd’s first name, took the stage. The first of these, Mike Dean, performed before the rain fell. The second, Kaytranada, however, did not present his show. On social media, the artist commented: “Sorry, Rio. No opening for Abel today,” with rain emojis. Kaytranada was scheduled to perform at 7:45 p.m., a time fans were still waiting for further guidance following the safety warning. With a delayed schedule due to unforeseen weather conditions, the star of the evening was the one who went straight on stage.

Setlist

The Weeknd was unable to take the stage at 9 p.m. as planned. But it didn’t take hours for the show to start. Around 9:35 p.m., the artist began the performance, which included a setlist filled with songs from the Canadian singer: there were 42 songs in total. There was “Call out my name”, “The Hills”, “Save your Tears”, “Popular” and much more on the list. At one point, the artist emphasized that he would not be affected by the rain, which alternated between light and more intense throughout the show, and that in fact he did not lose his momentum from the beginning at the end.

Scene

One of the sensations of The Weeknd’s show is his stage, a megastructure that includes a vast podium, a large sculpture by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama and a huge moon. During the Rio show, around 8:45 p.m., it was inflated, to the delight of the fans. However, due to heavy rains, the moon returned to the ground. Abel spoke about the lack of element in the presentation, remarking that the show should go on anyway.

Surprises

Earlier, there was a fan who heard “Love me Hard,” a song by The Weeknd featuring Ariana Grande, at the soundcheck, and rumors that the song was part of the setlist grew stronger. And in fact, it was later confirmed. The singer said on stage that he hadn’t sung this song in 10 years. At the time, the public went wild with this hit which did not appear on the setlists of the other shows on this artist’s tour. But that’s not the only surprise song Abel has prepared: “Pray for me”, “In the night” and “False alarm” were also on the program for the Rio show.

Singing with the fans

At the time of “Out of time”, the artist got off stage to get closer to the fans. Not only did he walk through the audience, but he also sang along with some people, pointing the microphone at each person to finish the song. There were even fans who received a hug at that moment.

Put you at ease

Throughout the show, Abel talked about how much he was enjoying the first performance of the tour in Brazil. In addition to singing, the Canadian star walked the length of her stage catwalk, interacted with the audience and danced in the rain, just like the audience. Sometime after leaving the stage, he shared photos from the performance on his social media profile and wrote: “What a show! “.

bracelets

The audience received flashing bracelets at the entrance to the show, as happens, for example, during Coldplay performances. Even though they didn’t light up at first, when they blinked, the sight became even brighter in Engenhão. At the end, there was a place to return the bracelets at the exit of the stadium.