“And we’re back at the scene of the crime, it looks like,” the Weeknd quipped a few songs into his set at Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium on Saturday evening.
“How it’s sounding tonight — is it sounding good? I love you. And the party has just started.”
Saturday’s sold-out show was a makeup gig for the Weeknd’s aborted SoFi date on Sept. 3, when the 32-year-old superstar, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, halted his performance after only 18 minutes. Citing vocal problems, he had tearfully apologized, then exited the stage for good, as the 70,000 fans in attendance were left disappointed and confused.
“I personally want to apologize to you guys. I don’t know what just happened when I screamed, but I just lost my voice,” Tesfaye explained that night. “This is killing me. I don’t want to stop the show. But I can’t give you the concert I want to give you right now. I’m going make sure everybody’s good — get your money back — but I’ll do a show real soon for you guys.”
“Real soon” arrived two and a half months later, on Nov. 26, with the Weeknd’s rescheduled L.A. date on his After Hours Til Dawn Tour. Tesfaye kicked off his 90-minute set with the Dawn FM tracks “Gasoline,” “Sacrifice,” and “How Do I Make You Love Me?,” and then audience members braced themselves when he segued into “Can’t Feel My Face” — the very hit on his setlist that had caused issues and forced him to quit mid-song back in September, after his “voice went out” and his “heart dropped.”
But this time, everything thankfully went off without a hitch. At one early point during Saturday’s show, Tesfaye — who was cleared by doctors to perform again shortly after the L.A. incident — even hoisted his microphone stand above his head and pumped it up and down like a barbell, as if to prove that he was back in fighting shape.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for fighting through with this, with me, and for coming back and showing me so much love. I knew you’d come back,” the Weeknd told the rallying SoFi audience Saturday. “I love you guys so much, and I don’t know what else to say. … Los Angeles, I f***ing love you!”
The Weeknd will wrap this leg of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour with another date at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 27, although he did post in his Instagram Stories Saturday that a second leg will be “announced soon.” His Saturday setlist was as follows:
Alone Again (intro)
Gasoline
Sacrifice
How Do I Make You Love Me?
Can’t Feel My Face
Take My Breath
The Hills
Often
Starboy
Heartless
Kiss Lan
Party Monster
Faith
After Hours
Out of Time
I Feel It Coming
Die for You
Is There Someone Else?
I Was Never There
Wicked Games
Call Out My Name
The Mornin
Save Your Tears
Less Than Zero
Blinding Lights
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