Recap: An Evening With The Weeknd At Radio City Music Hall (Exclusive Photos)

The Weeknd’s goal was to quickly go on tour after the critically acclaimed and very successful album “Kiss Land”, which was released on September 10th. He wanted to convey his unique vision for the tour as soon as possible while “Kiss Land” was still fresh out in stores. Even though he has performed a couple of times in New York, Radio City Music Hall is a legendary venue and the The Weeknd definitely brought his A game.

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The vision for the tour seemed to be crafted perfectly from the opening DJ Anna Lunoe to his opening act Banks (@hernameisbanks) who performed tracks off her LP “London.” Banks has her own distinct sound, however it’s close enough to the Weeknd’s signature sound to make sense as an opening performer. People rushed into the building to see Banks open the show! She performed some of her original tracks then surprised us with a rendition of Lauren Hill’s classic “Ex-Factor” that got the crowd’s juices flowing.

Listen to Banks EP “London” Here

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After Banks finished her set, DJ Anna Lunoe was called to keep the momentum going while the stage was being prepared for The Weeknd. She performed that job effortlessly with delivering a flawless set

Five minutes after Anna Lunoe was done, the lights went out.

Stage lights up.

And here he is! The Weeknd appears!

Weeknd appeared to be emotional throughout the performance. He seemed extremely humble and took time to absorb the love that the New York fans were showing him.

Weeknd then went into some cuts from his “Kiss Land” album. As soon as you think he will go through the whole album right away, he stops.

“Let’s go into the trilogy”

The crowd goes wild as he performs his hits such as “The Zone” “High for This” “The Morning” “What you Need” and many others. Knowing word for word every song, the fans were singing more than The Weeknd which led him to pause and let the fans finish the song at times

The Weeknd has a very strong stage presence.  He truly commanded the fans and had them waiting and anticipating his every move and word. During the concert. He performed a couple of NSFW moves that made the crowd go wild. Parts of the show were very promiscuous, reminiscent of a young Prince show back in the 80’s minus the leather pants and the platform shoes.

Now being in New York, The Weeknd stated that he wanted to do something special for his New York fans. He goes into “Gifted,” which was one of the standout tracks of New York’s own French Montana project “Excuse My French”. As The Weeknd finishes his part He brings Mr. “Haaaaaaann” himself, French Montana out to complete this track. The fans Loved it!

Once French left, The Weeknd finished the concert, which included a standout performance of “Pretty” a song that he stated meant very much to him due to it being one of his first recordings off the “Kiss Land” album in the states. He finished his set with a couple more powerful performances, but of course come back out after the sold out crowd chanted “encore”, which is the greatest compliment you can give a performer. The Weeknd gave the fans what they wanted, officially finishing up his performance coming back to the stage to perform “Wicked Games”.

Overall, The Weeknd delivered a great show. There’s no better way to finish this review than with a quote from the man himself.

“There’s no energy like New York energy”

By: Lawrence Hudson (@its_mikelawry)

Check out our exclusive photos taken by TammyB (@WithLoveTammyB)

The first song The Weeknd opened up with a sheet like screen surrounding him that had an image of a face projected on to it.  The crowned was excited. Through out the first song the projection faded in and out giving us just a glimpse of the singer (As seen in the first). Once the song was over the screen/sheet drop down giving the crowd a full reveal.  The crowd went into an uproar and the energy was felt as The Weeknd stepped out into the very front of the stage with his hands held high and bowed to his audience as if he was hailing a king. All in all it was an electrifying & extremely powerful performance and that was only the first two songs.