Saturday night saw Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd's return to Manchester since his small headline show at the Ritz back in March. Only this time, he was endeavouring in two sell out back-to-back shows at much larger venue, the Apollo. The Weeknd has always had what seemed to be a massive fan base right from when he released his first album, Trilogy, drawing together his string of 2011 mix tapes, but this was something else. The venue was full to the brim with a surprisingly eclectic mix of people, everyone from the expected snap back wearers and scantily clad teenage girls to the unanimous amounts of couples, some middle aged. It is clear that since the release of his album, Kiss Land, This online sensation has established himself as an exceedingly capable and brilliant artist who just keeps going from strength to strength with his uniquely atmospheric yet soulful sound embellished with haunting vocals.
At the bottom of the bill was rising Los Angeles star, Banks. Despite her first single only being released in March this year, she still managed to get the crowd going in an extremely short space of time. Her dark, moody, intimate sound is slightly resonant of The Weeknd's and so it was blatantly obvious why she was on tour with the guy. Opening with the amazing 'This Is What It Feels Like,' it was only a matter of minutes until the crowd were singing along to the chorus of this otherwise unfamiliar record. She continued to keep the crowd moving with tracks like 'Before I Ever Met You' and 'Warm Water' before making way for a second helping of support slot action.
It then came the turn of Zane Lowe to grace us with his presence and he definitely raked in the crowd pleasers. With an astonishing 30 minute set of hits from the likes of Drake and 50 Cent, it almost felt like we had already witnessed the main event when he left the stage. Drake's 'Started From The Bottom' was an obvious highlight but 'Higher Ground' from Hudson Mohawke and Lunice's 2012 TNGHT EP was an instant hit with the crowd. Funnily enough, I was a lot more worn out following Zane's set than the Weeknd's.
Now for the man himself. Opening with a string of singles from his brand new album Kiss Land, The Weeknd immediately affirmed his excellent live reputation with that distinctive, spine tingling voice. 'Belong To The World' stunned the crowd with its heavy electronic instrumental, similar to that of Portishead's 'Machine Gun,' not to mention his voice and fantastic stage presence. He continued to entice us with tracks from Kiss Land, like 'Pretty' and 'Professional' before explaining to the crowd "While I was in Toronto for a really long time, I made this little journal. It was called House of Balloons, and I was wondering if I could play a couple'a songs from it for y'all tonight." As you can imagine, this sent the crowd of devoted, long term fans wild as they eagerly anticipated and conferred with their pals what tracks they thought would be played. Surprisingly, The Weeknd opened his host of House of Balloons singles with a darker rendition of second track on the mix tape 'What You Need.' This really was a beautifully done performance both vocally and instrumentally, with haunting guitars and a continuous crescendo of spine chilling symbols. The crowd stood in awe as they witnessed the man who has been dubbed as the 'new age Michael Jackson' and he definitely did not let this reputation down. The crowd swooned as he continued to play hit after hit such as 'Loft Music,' 'High For This,' 'The Morning' and 'The Party and The After Party.' He even threw in a couple of his famous Drake Collaborations, 'Crew Love' and 'The Zone.'
Then came a bizarre performance of his new album's title track with a backdrop of hardcore lesbian porn which certainly startled the audience sending them into a wave of hushed silence as they tried to concentrate on the voice whilst the teenage boys dug out their phones and began recording.
As the set began to draw to a close, the Weeknd asked the crowd if he could dedicate the next song to us, 'Wanderlust.' A beautifully sung track with its distinctively dynamic instrumental compared to other tracks on Kiss Land. Following this performance he vacated the stage before returning and telling the crowd how much our presence meant to him. "Whenever I finish writing a song I think, what would the UK think of this?" he proceeded. Then, the low, haunting guitars of 'Wicked Games' filled the room, sending the crowd into an ecstasy of excitement. His most well known track made for the perfect culmination to fantastically mellow set of flawless vocals and the ambient, atmospheric sound we all know and love.
I have loved the Weeknd right from the release of House of Balloons but I was completely unsure of what to expect from his live show. It is safe to say that he proved himself and I can't wait for everyone to notice what all the fuss is about.
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