Concert Review: The Weeknd @ Guelph Concert Theater

RESPECT. managed to sneak a member of press into The Weeknd‘s second solo performance, discounting OVO Fest, this past Saturday at the Guelph Concert Theater in Ontario. Since the event was once again no press and no cameras, we had to make due with words and one unbiased testimony.

Read the complete review after the jump.

The Weeknd may be a lot of things, but all we know for sure is that he’s 1) one-of-a-kind, and 2) a monstrous tease.

As I entered the Guelph Concert Theater in downtown Guelph, a small University town in rural Ontario, the first thing my friend noticed was the decor. “Look around,” she said. “This place used to be a goddamn church.” It was true. The decor consisted of old wood paneling, brown carpets, and a merchandise booth that could have substituted for an old school confessional. Not only was the locale provocative (at least mildly ironic, considering The Weeknd’s lurid subject matter), but the show was converted at the last minute from 19+ to all-ages, so all the underage kiddies with fake IDs could secure a spot on the segregated balcony and enjoy their fair share of melodic drug references and tales of hard sex. The opening act turned out to be a local grunge band from Toronto, who did very little to tickle the crowd, who’s only concern was whether the three security guards (who appeared similar to XO crew members) intended on enforcing the “No Smoking” signs plastered up on stage. Heck, was this all some sort of elaborate April Fool’s gimmick in early October? I got my answer the moment The Weeknd spun onto the stage doing a version of Lil B’s cooking dance along with his accompanying band, who could have passed for The Roots on a slow night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. After performing an amped up version of “High For This”, The Weeknd, dressed in a Yankees warmup, XO cap, blue chinos sagging overtop Polo boxers, yanked two of the “No Smoking” posters off the stage and tore them into pieces, all the while giggling maniacally at his posse. Tesfaye then chugged a bottle of Hennessy straight from the bottle, and slowly ran his fingers beneath his nose for a final drug reference.

As you may have already suspected, there were no label execs or A&R fixers in attendance at Guelph, no witnesses to Tesfaye’s ‘monstrosity’ of a sophomore performance, and the XO boys seemed to like it better that way. Who said The Weeknd couldn’t sing in front of an audience? Over the course of an hour, Tesfaye blasted through a sufficiently-amped setlist, which included, “High For This,” “Life Of The Party,” “The Morning,” “The Party & The After Party,” “What You Need,” “Lonely Star,” “Wicked Games,” “The Birds Part 1” and “The Birds Part 2” among others. However, the standout of the evening had to be, “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls,” during which the crowd got up on their toes, bouncing and chanting “this is a happy house, we’re happy here, in a happy house, oh this is fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun…” before the beat oozed into a bass-heavy dubstep number, over which Tesfaye half melodizes and half flows. “House of Balloons/Glasses Table Girls” is clearly not a hip-hop record, yet neither is it R&B, or dance/electro. The same goes for the majority of The Weeknd’s cuts, which are often too droned out to be hip-hop, and too hard to be traditional R&B. The Weeknd is trying to brand his own genre, which consists of hard-hitting kicks, vicious basslines, spine-tingling guitar, amidst cries of falsetto.

The Weeknd closed Saturday’s sold out show with an ear splitting performance of “The Zone”, rather fittingly, since a screen of kush smoke had accumulated under the high ceilings. As the various band members jammed to their cathartic conclusion, Tesfaye displaying all his molars as he hit those final high notes, a completely different vibe swept over the crowd. No doubt they anticipated Drake to emerge from the dark curtains backstage to perform his verse on “The Zone”. When he didn’t, everyone stood there on the floor not sure whether to go or stick around. After all, The Weeknd had whispered into the mic before the start of the song, “I’ve got another surprise for you.” The dude knew exactly what he was doing, and it worked, well, almost. He teased fans to the point where they actually considered going home to purchase tickets for Sunday night’s performance in London, Ontario, the second of two back-to-back shows in one sublime “Weeknd.”