Show Review: The Weeknd Brings Epic 'After Hours Till Dawn' Stadium Tour Back To Santa Clara
The Weeknd
w/ Playboi Carti, Mike Dean
Levi’s Stadium
Santa Clara, CA
July 8th, 2025
Review and Photos by Jaime Schultz
“Tonight might be the best night of the tour,” The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) exclaimed in front of a sold-out Levi’s Stadium last night to a roar of applause. Remarks like these are common amongst performers, but for Tesfaye, it seems genuine. The dynamic singer-songwriter returned to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, previously performing a multi-night run in 2022 on his “After Hours Till Dawn” tour. This time around, Tesfaye is promoting this year’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album, released back in January, and he brought with him another wildly entertaining performance made for stadiums. Last night’s performance was record-setting for Levi’s Stadium, making him the highest-grossing malo solo artist in the venue’s history.
The show was opened by Mike Dean, The Weeknd’s longtime producer and collaborator, utilizing multiple synthesizers and instruments to set the mood for the evening as fans filtered into the stadium. Rapper Playboi Carti followed with an energetic, yet condensed performance. Carti’s autotune-slathered vocals reverberated throughout the stadium as he and his hype man frantically ran around the stage. With only six songs, he left quite the impression on the crowd.
The towering cityscape that once towered over stadiums on the “After Hours Till Dawn” tour is now in ruins, with only the bases remaining (and Tesfaye’s band performing hidden amongst them throughout the duration of the show). Flanked by rows of dancers, his face covered with a shining chrome-plated mask and a diamond-encrusted outfit, The Weeknd took Bay Area fans on a journey through a decade of fan favorite hits like “The Hills”, “Starboy”, “How Do I Make You Love Me?”, “Can’t Feel My Face”, “Blinding Lights” and countless others. It’s quite astounding to realize how many hits The Weeknd has racked up over his career, each one catchier than the last.
Tesfaye is an entertaining performer, utilizing the entire stage and catwalk, playing it up to the cameras and connecting with an audience that’s a football field away. For a performance that is meant to fill a stadium of nearly 50,000 people, The Weeknd had the ability to make it feel intimiate and personal. It’s hard for a performer to do this, and Tesfaye is a natural.
An appearance by Playboi Carti followed halfway through the show, for performances “Timeless” and “RATHER LIE”, along with a cover of “Creepin’ by Metro Boomin. Forty-one songs later, The Weeknd closed with the anthemic “Moth To A Flame”, a collaboration between himself and electronic dance music trio Swedish House Mafia. Fireworks erupted over the stadium, signifying the closing of the evening, and bringing to a close one of the best concert tours of the year.
The Weeknd will perform again this evening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. For more information, click here.
The Weeknd Set List
The Abyss
Wake Me Up
After Hours
Starboy
Heartless
Faith
Take My Breath
Sacrifice (Swedish House Mafia remix)
How Do I Make You Love me?
Can’t Feel My Face
Lost in the Fire (Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd song)
Kiss Land
Often
Given Up on Me
I Was never There
The Hills
Baptized In Fear
Open Hearts
Cry For Me
São Paulo
Timeless (with Playboi Carti)
RATHER LIE (with Playboi Carti)
Creepin’ (Metro Boomin cover)
Niagara Falls
One Of The Girls
Stargirl Interlude
Out of Time
I Feel It Coming
Die For You
Is There Someone Else?
Wicked Games
Call Out My Name
The Morning
Save Your Tears
Less Than Zero
Blinding Lights
Without A Warning
Reflections Laughing
High For This
House of Balloons
Moth To A Flame (Swedish House Mafia & The Weeknd song)
