Kevin Mazur/Getty Photos for TW
Even Daniel Craig would agree: The Weeknd hardly wants an introduction. On one in every of the arena’s ideal stages Sunday evening (February 7), on the Tidy Bowl LV halftime relate, he demonstrated why.
In a career-spanning keep that bounded from his early pop hits to his contemporary smashes, Abel Tesfaye embraced his situation as a world pop well-known individual by skill of an intricate, multi-fragment spectacle centered around his vision. Needless to teach, in scream to drag that off, it’s essential maintain the songs. And Abel has them, as he showcased, starting with a red blazer-adorned discontinuance on the Las Vegas strip, total with a fat choir of resplendent angels summoning him onto the topic.
“Starboy,” naturally, became as soon as his introduction, and he delivered the tune with shades in hand in front of his a microscopic bit mechanized resplendent legion of specters. The resplendent eyes soon gave methodology to accurate faces as they removed their masks in time for “The Hills,” which exploded with neon energy and a strip of fireworks. Then, he peaced out in the motivate of the scenes, introducing the dizzying visible abilities of the After Hours technology that predates it: 2015’s “Can’t Feel My Face.”
After a circulation illness-inducing romp by means of a hallway of mirrors, The Weeknd disappeared correct into a maze of dancers dressed exactly like him — excluding with bandaged faces, a behold he had previously opted into. By the time he returned to the topic for “I Feel It Coming,” so did extra fireworks, and it quite gave the look of Abel became as soon as using on the top of the arena. Upright to his be aware, he accomplished without the violence of the blood-dripping conceal of After Hours, as an different aiming to “take care of it PG,” as he mentioned in a pregame press convention closing week.
It became as soon as a performance that felt greater than life, utilizing a grandstand to compare the top of his catalogue and the sheer different of bodies it took to drag it off. By the time he cruised by “Build Your Tears” and “Earned It,” the vibe had determined grew to become extra stately, with a string fragment and a highlight highlighting the emotionality of the moment.
When Tesfaye closed in on the huge finale, his squadron of bandaged clones took the topic for a dance spoil sooner than segueing in to the pure snowy, glitzy bliss of “Blinding Lights.” You appreciate how definite halftime presentations feels confined to the stage on the topic? Yeah, this one felt just like the reverse, with dancers on reputedly every yard line, spaced out to have the total stadium as white explosions crested overhead. On the middle, naturally, became as soon as Abel himself, singing straight away into the camera.
For an artist whose career began in the shadows, launching intrigue with instantaneous-traditional mixtapes from Toronto, The Weeknd would’ve gave the impact an enigmatic resolution for a Tidy Bowl halftime performer simplest about a years up to now. But from the starting, the producer-singer crafted a direction that aligned him with the ideal artists of the day — Drake, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey — and allowed him to take care of reinventing himself, as pop juggernauts in most cases discontinue.
Nothing became as soon as bolder than his reintroduction in leisurely 2019 to open up the rush to After Hours, his fourth studio album complemented by a hallucinogenic, in most cases violent visible therapy chopped up correct by means of his tune videos. It became as soon as also the ideal likelihood for the singer high-tail deeper into his enjoy thoughts as he shot as soon as extra up the charts, again partnering with Max Martin for one in every of the ideal smashes of the leisurely 2010s.
Making that a actuality required a staggeringly in-your-face stylistic methodology, visually, something Tesfaye became as soon as alive to to continue in the future of the relate. As such, he spent a reported $7 million of his enjoy cash to fetch it occur. He cited Diana Ross’s 1996 performance at Tidy Bowl XXX, which culminated on the side of her exiting the topic in a helicopter, as a milestone for him personally. “I wish I belief of that,” he said on the clicking convention with a wry smile, “but I create now not judge I actually manage to pay for.”
Having slain the Tidy Bowl halftime relate, he’s asking ahead to a world tour keep to kick off in 2022. Except that time, relive the total beauty in the motivate of the madness of The Weeknd’s Tidy Bowl halftime relate above.
