The Weeknd live in London review: A face-melting and dazzling spectacle

On the same evening that the British government blindsided the public by issuing an early evening phone alert to warn against activities that could start fires, it’s ironic that a face-melting blast of flames emerged within minutes of The Weeknd arriving on stage at Wembley Stadium.

Unwelcome for over 60,000 people in the grips of a horrendous heatwave? Perhaps. But you sense that the fans gathered for the first of five dates from the Canadian megastar will have little complaints. Here was a show where showmanship and elaborate staging largely proved why the man born Abel Tesfaye has become one of pop music’s modern greats.

On the latter point, he arrived on stage flanked by a set which showed the burned remnants of landmarks across the globe, including St Paul’s Cathedral. It was an immersive rendering of the apocalyptic future within Tesfaye’s After Hours universe, but also one which felt eerily apt while London finds itself gripped by the hottest temperatures on record.

For the first portion, he remained largely anonymous while wearing a mask with red eyes and occasionally overshadowed by a spinning gold statue of a woman which looked like C-3PO if it was created by a horny teenage boy.

But when he ditched the mask, the man behind the music emerged. Tesfaye repeatedly spoke of his admiration for the capital, admitting that his musical alter-ego wouldn’t exist were it not for the early support of his British fans. And they were duly repaid with a staggering 38 songs within two hours, even if some, including trap-hop banger ‘The Hills’, were shortened to a level where it occasionally felt like veering close to mega-mix territory. It’s also true that some of those 38 songs have a level of anonymity where you’d struggle to tell them apart.

At the same time, however, the fervent intensity of his fans, who were consistently vocal throughout, suggested this was a minor quibble. He jumped into the crowd and met the adoring masses during the futuristic pop of ‘Out Of Time’ and by the time that ‘Blinding Lights’, still one of the biggest songs of all time, arrived, the screams of 60,000 fans suggested that it was a job well done.

It was perhaps slick to a level where you wonder if it begins to lose a level of connection, but at the same time the five nights at Wembley Stadium is a feat that speaks for itself. Tesfaye recently confirmed he’s ditching plans to retire The Weeknd moniker when this tour ends. On a night like this, where he boldly claims he will do ten shows at Wembley in the future, it’s no wonder that a return beckons.