The Weeknd Has 40 Songs to Sing and No Time to Waste in Korea

Before the crowd could finish cheering for one song, the next was already underway. For more than two hours, The Weeknd moved through nearly 40 tracks with barely a pause, leaving little time for the audience to catch its breath. What was perhaps more surprising was how little the pace seemed to affect his singing. Even after moving from one end of the stage to the other, he continued hitting high notes without noticeably losing control of his voice.

The Canadian singer returned to South Korea on Oct. 7 for the first of two sold-out concerts at Goyang Stadium, performing before approximately 54,000 fans. It was his first show in the country since 2018, when he performed at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome.

The concerts were part of his "After Hours Til Dawn" world tour, with all 108,000 tickets for the two nights sold out. The Weeknd became the third artist in the Hyundai Card Super Concert series to draw more than 100,000 attendees, following Coldplay in 2017 and Bruno Mars in 2023.

After Japanese hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts finished their opening set, masked dancers walked onto a stage designed to resemble the remains of a collapsed city. The Weeknd appeared wearing a silver mask, with green lasers projecting from its eyes. At the center of the cross-shaped runway stood a 12-meter-tall robot sculpture, which remained a prominent part of the stage throughout the night.

He opened with "Baptized in Fear" from his sixth studio album, "Hurry Up Tomorrow," followed by "Open Hearts," "Wake Me Up" and "After Hours." The first few songs leaned into his darker, more atmospheric sound. When "Starboy" began, however, the mood in the stadium changed. Fans cheered at the opening beat and began singing along.

After "Faith," the seventh song of the night, The Weeknd removed his mask and greeted the crowd with a smile. He recalled his first concert in Korea eight years earlier and thanked fans for the support they had shown him.

"Korea and I have a special relationship," he said, referring to the significance of his 2018 performance in his career. "I missed you so much."

"Goyang, are you ready? Korea, are you ready?" he shouted, prompting another round of cheers. Throughout the show, he repeatedly called out "Korea" and "Goyang," sometimes working the words into his songs.

The setlist covered more than a decade of music, moving between his early R&B releases, electronic dance tracks and the pop hits that made him a household name. The production was especially elaborate during "Take My Breath" and "Sacrifice," with lights flashing across the stadium and flames shooting up from the stage. Fireworks also went off during "Sacrifice."

For fans who mainly knew The Weeknd through songs such as "Starboy" and "Blinding Lights," the concert offered plenty of less familiar material. "Often," "Wicked Games" and "Professional" brought out the darker R&B sound of his earlier work, providing a change of pace from the dance-heavy numbers.

Those slower songs also gave his vocals more room to stand out. On "Can't Feel My Face" and "I Feel It Coming," his falsetto sounded smooth and controlled. "Wicked Games" and "Call Out My Name" showed a different side of his voice, as he held notes and adjusted his delivery to suit the mood of each song. Even as the concert moved into its second hour, there was little indication that the demanding setlist was wearing him down.

He also spent much of the night trying to reach different sections of the audience. The cross-shaped runway allowed him to move closer to fans on several sides of the stadium. During "Lost in the Fire," he stepped down from the stage and reached out to hold fans' hands. For "Out of Time," he handed his microphone to a fan, letting them sing before giving them a hug.

The Weeknd appeared relaxed during his interactions with the crowd, making finger hearts and asking fans whether they knew how much he loved them. He then asked whether they loved him just as much, drawing another loud response.

"One of the Girls," his collaboration with BLACKPINK's Jennie and Lily-Rose Depp, was also included in the setlist. Although Jennie did not appear onstage, the audience sang along to the song.

The biggest hits were saved for the later part of the show. During "Die for You," The Weeknd began singing without instrumental accompaniment before letting the audience take over. "Save Your Tears" brought another singalong, with fans following the melody as he pointed his microphone toward the stands.

The loudest reaction, however, came during "Blinding Lights." He started by singing the familiar melody without backing music, and the crowd immediately joined in. When the synthesizers kicked in, fans who had been sitting stood up to dance and sing. It was one of the few moments when nearly everyone in sight seemed to know exactly what was coming next.

There was a downside to fitting so many songs into one concert. Many were shortened, and the transitions were so quick that some tracks ended just as the audience was getting into them. The constant movement kept the show from dragging, but it also left little room to enjoy individual songs. The energy in the stands dipped somewhat during the middle portion, when several less familiar tracks followed one another.

Still, it was difficult not to be impressed by how consistently The Weeknd sang throughout the night. He moved across the stage, interacted with fans and switched between songs that required very different vocal approaches, yet his voice sounded nearly as strong toward the end as it had at the beginning.

Before leaving, he acknowledged the long wait since his previous visit. "It's my fault it took eight years to come back," he said, telling fans how much he had missed Korea. He promised to return sooner and said he hoped to spend more time with fans on his next visit.

Eight years ago, The Weeknd performed for around 20,000 fans at Gocheok Sky Dome. On Oct. 7, he returned to a crowd of 54,000, with a far bigger production and a setlist spanning more than a decade of music. Beyond the familiar hits, the concert offered a chance to hear the different sides of his sound, from his early R&B tracks to his more recent pop releases. For those who came knowing only his biggest songs, there was plenty more to discover, and perhaps a few new favorites to take home.