Ladies And Gentlemen, The Weeknd

Even Daniel Craig would agree: The Weeknd hardly needs an introduction. On one of the world's biggest stages Sunday night (February 7), at the Super Bowl LV halftime show, he demonstrated why.


In a career-spanning set that bounded from his early pop hits to his current smashes, Abel Tesfaye embraced his status as a world pop star by means of the a fancy, multi-part spectacle centered around his vision. Needless say, categorize in attempt to pull that off, you need to have the songs. And Abel has them, as he showcased, starting with a red blazer-adorned stop on the Las Vegas strip, complete with a full choir of glowing angels summoning him onto the field.


"Starboy," obviously, was his introduction, and he delivered the tune with sunglasses in hand in front of his slightly mechanized glowing legion of specters. The glowing eyes soon gave way to real faces as they removed their masks in time for "The Hills," which blown up neon power and also a strip of fireworks. Then, he peaced out backstage, introducing the dizzying visual experience of the After Hours era that predates it: 2015's "Can't Feel My Face."


After a motion sickness-inducing romp through a hallway of resembles, The Weeknd disappeared into a maze of dancers dressed exactly like him — except with bandaged faces, a look he had previously opted into. By the time he returned to the field for "I Feel It Coming," so did more fireworks, and yes it quite looked like Abel was riding on the best of the world. True to his word, he avoided the violence of the blood-dripping cover of After Hours, as an alternative aiming to "keep it PG," as he said in a pregame press conference last week.


It was an efficiency that felt larger than life, making use of a grandstand to match the height of his catalogue and the sheer assortment of bodies it took to pull it off. By the time he cruised by "Save Your Tears" and "Earned It," the vibe had determined turned more stately, string section as well as a spotlight highlighting the emotionality of the moment.


Once Tesfaye closed in on the grand finale, his squadron of bandaged clones took the field for a dance break before segueing in to the pure snowy, glitzy bliss of "Blinding Lights." You know how certain halftime shows feels confined to the stage on the field? Yeah, this one felt like the opposite, with dancers on seemingly every yard line, spaced out to fill the full stadium as white explosions crested overhead. At the center, needless to say, was Abel himself, singing directly into the camera.


For an artist whose career started in the shadows, launching intrigue with instant-classic mixtapes from Toronto, The Weeknd would've seemed an enigmatic choice for a Super Bowl halftime performer only several years prior. However from the starting, the producer-singer crafted a path that aligned him with the hugest artists of the day — Drake, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey — and allowed him to keep reinventing himself, as pop juggernauts often do.


Nothing was bolder than his reintroduction in late 2019 to start the journey to After Hours, his fourth studio album complemented by a hallucinogenic, often violent visual treatment chopped up across his music videos. It was also the best chance for the singer go deeper into his own mind as he shot once more up the charts, again partnering with Max Martin for one of the best smashes of the late 2010s.


Making that a reality required a staggeringly in-your-face stylistic approach, visually, something Tesfaye was keen to continue throughout the show. As such, he spent an announced $7 million of his own cash to create it happen. He invoked Diana Ross's 1996 efficiency at Super Bowl XXX, which culminated with her exiting the field in a helicopter, as a milestone for him personally. "I wish I thought of that," he mentioned at the press conference with a wry smile, yet I don't think I have enough money."


Having slain the Super Bowl halftime show, he's looking ahead to a world tour set to kick off in 2022. Up until that time, relive all of the aesthetics beyond the madness of The Weeknd's Super Bowl halftime show above.