The Weeknd

It was a Tuesday but it felt more like The Weeknd. On Aug 30, 2022, I had the pleasure of photographing The Weeknd at The After Hours Til Dawn Tour in Glendale, AZ at the State Farm Stadium. I live in the Inland Empire (Southern California) so making the drive out to Glendale, AZ is no easy task. It’s about five hours each way, so this couldn’t be something that was on a whim.

I received approval to photograph the tour at 5 pm the day before, and as soon as I read the email, I booked a rental car, readied my gear, and prepared to have the time of my life photographing one of my favorite musical artists.

I’ve photographed festivals and worked individually with musicians but I have never photographed a tour. I didn’t know what to expect and I’m typically a punctual guy, so although call time was 7 pm I arrived at 5:45 pm. Coming from Southern California, I didn’t know how bad traffic was going to be. Better early than late, right? I waited until 7 pm to be escorted down to the pit and as soon as I got down there, I could feel the buzz of the sold-out stadium.

While waiting for the show to start, I made conversation with some of the audience who were sitting front row. They were stoked to see The Weeknd live and with drinks in hand, snapping selfies with their friends. The energy was building up as it got closer for the show to begin. At 8:40 pm the lights dimmed, the music started, and it was about to go down. Not a single person was sitting at this point and the roar from the crowd as The Weeknd arose onto the stage was electric!

**The Weeknd’s backup dancer** photographed by **Bryan Wilson**

From where I was it was a little difficult to capture a good close-up since he started off his set deep on his stage (his stage design was even more magnificent in person than I had seen in photographs). After he performed “Alone Again” and “Gasoline” he sang a remixed version of “Sacrifice” and was moving from stage left to stage right, engaging with the crowd and really setting the tone for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, we were escorted out right as his fourth song was about to begin (“How Do I Make You Love Me” - Because photographers have a 3 song limit). That’s when we started to walk down the catwalk which was directly in front of us. I was able to capture one image as he was that close before they escorted us out of the pit. This experience was one I shall never soon forget and I hope it is the start of something big. The rest of that week following the show, while they were weekdays, it felt more like The Weeknd.