The Weeknd announces three opening artists for upcoming After Hours Till Dawn Tour of stadiums
The Weeknd has announced three new opening artists who will replace Doja Cat as the openers for its upcoming stadium tour.
Swedish R&B star Snoh Aalegra, Canadian soul singer Kaytranada and hip-hop DJ/producer Mike Dean will be playing various dates on the After Hours Till Dawn Tour which kicks off on Friday, July 8 in Toronto, Canada. Variety†
Originally billed as a “special guest,” Doja Cat was forced to pull out of the North American outing when she underwent surgery on her tonsils. And while the procedure is admittedly “routine,” the Planet Her star revealed the “recovery may take a while due to swelling” in an Instagram post.
Openers Revealed: The Weeknd has announced the three musical artists who will replace Doja Cat for its upcoming After Hours Till Dawn Tour of stadiums; he can be seen at Coachella in April 2022
The After Hours Till Dawn Tour is The Weeknd’s first-ever tour of the stadium-playing world, in support of his fourth and fifth studio albums After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022).
It kicks off with a show on Friday, July 8 at Rogers Center in Toronto, Canada, the hometown of the Blinding Lights star.
Kaytranada and Mike Dean will open the first nine shows through Saturday, August 6 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Snoh Aalegra replaces Kaytranada and joins Mike Dean as opening performers for the next two shows at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on August 11-14.
Opening Artists: Canadian soul singer Kaytranada and hip-hop DJ/producer Mike Dean serve as openers for the tour’s first nine shows and various other dates
From there, Kaytranada rejoins Dean as the openers for the following three dates: August 18 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver; August 20 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas; and August 23 at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada.
After two shows with Aalegra on the opening bill in Seattle and San Francisco, Kaytranada and Dean team up again for the final three concerts of the 19-date trek that concludes with two shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on September 2 and 3.
Additional stages are planned for Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.
Joining the stadium outing: Swedish R&B star Snoh Aalegra will also be added to the opening slot from August 11; seen on June 18 in Washington, DC
Amid reports that Doja had to pull out last month, “the phone was “off the hook with replacement offers,” said Omar Al-joulani, Live Nation’s president of touring.
The After Hours Till Dawn Tour is actually two years in the making. It was originally scheduled to start on June 11, 2020 in Vancouver and end on November 16 in London, England.
Due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and health concerns related to indoor arena shows, all original dates were postponed, rather than cancelled, and rescheduled in favor of a stadium-wide trek.
Super Bowl Inspiration: The Blinding Light star’s team was inspired by his Super Bowl Halftime appearance to switch from arenas to stadiums after the original tour was postponed in 2020
Due to the much larger venues on the list, The Weeknd and his team had to revamp almost all the ideas planned for the original 2020 tour.
And as it turns out, it was his recent Super Bowl Halftime appearance that gave them the inspiration and confidence to get big.
“We definitely took inspiration from the Super Bowl’s performance — and expanded it,” said creative director La Mar Taylor, who has been in business for years. Now we can.’
Going Big: In total, this North American leg of the tour consists of 19 dates starting in Toronto, Canada on July 8, and ending with two shows in Los Angeles on September 2 and 3