After a very somber beginning to the weekend in the Twin Cities, I found myself both a little anxious and a little excited for the night to come. I myself have only been to a handful of shows at U.S. Bank stadium in the last couple of years (Taylor Swift and Metallica), and was glad to have the opportunity to finally catch The Weeknd. I have had a couple of missed attempts at trying to see The Weeknd live over the last few years (his show at the Xcel Energy Center from five years ago during COVID that was postponed before it was inevitably cancelled), and it was finally time to be a part of the live experience on the After Hours Til Dawn tour.

Opener Mike Dean took the stage promptly at 7 p.m. to start the show off on the right foot. The hip-hop producer and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire has collaborated with The Weeknd in the past and it felt fitting to have him open up the night. Mike Dean filled U.S. Bank Stadium with an atmospheric and ambient mix of both original music and pockets of blended sounds, from past collaborations. Sonically, it was easy to hear where there was shared influence/creative energy with The Weeknd, especially when the tempo started to increase near the middle and end of his set. As an opening set for the After Hours Til Dawn tour, Mike Dean set the ambiance right for the rest of the night.

Next up for the night was the one and only Playboi Carti. I will be painfully honest and say that his music has not been in my rotation remotely close enough for me to be able to name a song of his, but this leaves the live performance the perfect opportunity for me to see what Playboi Carti is all about. What was definitive about Playboi Carti’s performance was that it felt like he breathed life into the entire stadium. Everyone was on their feet and dancing throughout his set, which had no shortage of strobe lights and pyro, production elements that definitely added to his performance. Playboi Carti also had a live guitarist on stage (which personally was a nice surprise for me), along with his own hype man keeping the crowd wild and locked in for the duration of his set. While Playboi Carti’s short and sweet time on stage may not have been one hundred percent for me, his music and performance were incredibly fun to watch and he and his crew had the stadium dancing along to nearly every beat.

Finally, after one last set change, it was time for the headliner of the evening, The Weeknd. The house lights went down right before 9pm to the sound of a massive wave of cheers filling the stadium. A troupe of backup dancers dressed in masks and red cloaks sauntered on stage first during “The Abyss,” with The Weeknd joining in a black cloak and a lit mask. After blazing through a handful of songs off of his latest release “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” and huge singles “Starboy” and “Heartless,” The Weeknd took his mask off to reveal a huge smile for the cheering Minneapolis crowd. It’s difficult to narrow down the highlights from the set; from the incredible use of lighting from the large stage (both on the edges of stage itself and from above in the 300 level of the stadium), the perfect additions of pyro, to joining the crowd in dancing along to the mega hits (“Can’t Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” “Blinding Lights, and “Die for You” to name a few), my personal highlight of the show was getting to experience “São Paulo” live. That track has made it onto every single one of my running playlists since it was released earlier this year on “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” and it was such a treat to be able to vibe with an entire stadium full of people to this song. During the set, when The Weeknd first ventured out to the side stage, he went down the stairs of the stage to interact with fans on the barricade during “Out of Time,” even letting a select few sing a couple of bars for the sold out crowd. Fans were even treated to a special return of Playboi Carti to hear a couple of their collabs performed as a duo. All in all, The Weeknd played an absolutely massive setlist to the tune of about 40 songs, some played in full and others played as shorter versions or interludes into other tracks, that took the crowd through the depths of his conceptual trilogy of albums on his incredible return to the Twin Cities.