The Weeknd at Gillette Stadium
This show was shot for The Concert Chronicles. View the original article here.
It was a Tuesday night in Foxborough. But you’d never have guessed that from the crowd rocking inside Gillette Stadium. Parking lots were full hours before showtime – my usual 30 minute drive extended into a full two hours – and nearly every seat was occupied by the time The Weeknd took the stage for the first of two shows in the Boston area on his “After Hours Til Dawn Tour.“
In an era when stadium concerts are often critiqued for their soaring prices, it’s easy to become cynical about the mega-tour experience. But watching The Weeknd roll out the most elaborate production this city has seen in years, it was clear this wasn’t designed to be anyone’s average night out. Shows like this aren’t built to be binged. They’re a once-a-year spectacle. And a spectacle it was.
A towering gold statue loomed over the stage. Jagged ruins of a crumbling city framed the scene. An entire squad of dancers, eerily cloaked in flowing red robes and metallic masks, stalked the stage like a dystopian chorus. The set itself sprawled across nearly half the football field, and The Weeknd made use of every inch, pacing, singing, and performing as if determined to shrink the vastness of the stadium around him.
The setlist was frankly absurd. Spanning more than 40 songs, the Canadian star barely paused between numbers as he powered through some of the biggest hits of not only his career, but the 21st century. “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Save Your Tears,” “Starboy,” and “The Hills” all landed with the force of the cultural anthems we know them to be.
Every audience member was outfitted with an LED wristband synced to the stage lighting, transforming the crowd itself into a sea of glowing color that pulsed and shifted in harmony with the music. A smart and cool way to turn a cavernous venue into a shared experience.
Of course, some of the intimacy of live music gets lost at this scale. Distance from the performer, reliance on backing tracks, and a necessary tilt toward theatrics can create moments that feel more cinematic than raw. But that’s part of the design. Shows like this lean into grandiosity because they have to. You can’t fake club-level intimacy in a 65,000-seat stadium, so you bring the moment to the audience in the loudest, boldest way possible.
Playboi Carti handled opening duties and later returned to join The Weeknd for their collaborations “RATHER LIE” and the crowd favorite “Timeless,” which sent a fresh jolt through an already electric set.
The night closed on “Moth to a Flame,” The Weeknd’s collaboration with Swedish House Mafia. But it was “Blinding Lights” that truly stole the show. The moment the iconic opening synth lines rang out the crowd screamed louder than I’ve heard at any football game in the same stadium, and a sea of dancing fans reminded me why this song holds the record as the most-streamed track in Spotify history. An astonishing 4.87 billion streams and counting.
For one night, and one more still to come, The Weeknd transformed Gillette Stadium into a surreal, unforgettable dance floor. If you were there, you weren’t just watching the show. You were part of it.
