Concert Review with PHOTOS: The Weeknd

By Leah Victoria

By Zoë Reid 

Artist: The Weeknd

Date / Venue: Wednesday November 29th, 2017 - Spark Arena, Auckland

Canada has had a few artists come through here lately - Drake and Shawn Mendes are two that spring to mind.  Add Mega-Star, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye to that list, more commonly known to fans as The Weeknd (yes, pronounced "the weekend") finally hit our shores last night. The talented singer who’s love life seems as much under scrutiny as his music, killed it tonight for “phase two” of his Starboy World Tour at Auckland’s Spark Arena. 

He’s come a long way since being discovered on YouTube back in in 2010, when he anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd". Since then he has snowballed into one of the biggest acts in the world, and now Kiwi fans had the chance to see this exciting talent.

Singing his 2016 hit Starboy, the absence of trademark dreadlocks piled on top of his head didn’t distract the packed Auckland venue as the ‘Earned It’ singer dazzled and crooned the crazy crowd. Addressing the odd word to the audience in between some of his biggest hits Can’t feel My Face, Party Monster or a lit version of fellow countryman Drake’s Crew Love, the night just seemed to get better (Actually, talking about Drake, the Weekend worked on Take Care, Drake's multi-platinum Grammy Award winning album. He wrote a couple of songs on the album, as either a writer or featured artist).

The atmosphere was pumping, The Weekend fans were so crazy about him - they were rabid and definitely happy to see him.  It was his first time in New Zealand, he was so glad to be here and said he “Would come back”.  He didn’t talk as much as Drake, but it there was such a mutual understanding between him and the fans that it didn’t matter. He was pumped, the fans were pumped.

Hits like Often, his song with Rapper Future, Low Life, and smash hit The Hills were simply amazing live. He also played Morning (that’s my actual favourite song of his). I never thought he’d play it because it’s so old, but it was really good.  Everyone was just litty, his vocals were stunning. Literally, everything about the concert was just as you’d expect, he sounded exactly as you would think, very professional with a studio vibe, he was that good.

Overall impression? It was how you would think it would be – absolutely fantastic. The energy level was great, the crowd was stoked to be there and his voice was perfect. Tonight was the best night, even the weather behaved. It was also the perfect lead in to ‘the weekend’ – the end of the week, I mean, not the artist.  

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL THE WEEKND GALLERY BY LEAH VICTORIA