The show began with Mike Dean, who performed his new synth-heavy instrumental album, “425”, in its entirety. Dressed in a black hooded cloak, Dean split time between gold-plated keyboard stands holding seven keyboards, an electric guitar and a saxophone, all while he lit and smoked a joint. The sound of the set was reminiscent of his cinematic production credits on The Weeknd’s most recent record, “Hurry Up Tomorrow”. The set came to a grand conclusion as Dean walked away from the stage after raising his hands in the air to receive applause from the audience.

In between performances, the video boards would play the trailer for The Weeknd’s upcoming movie, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” which will be released on May 15. The film stars Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan and is a musical psychological thriller that is soundtracked by The Weeknd’s most recent album of the same name.

Although his set started nearly 15 minutes behind schedule, fans were thrilled to see Playboi Carti take the stage. Accompanied by a group of hype men, including DJ Swamp Izzo, Carti danced smoothly around the massive stage performing some of his biggest hits and features including, “Sky,” “Magnolia,” “FE!N” and “Type S---.”

The set was less of a performance than it was a fashion show. Although Carti was dripping from head to toe in a multicolored leather jacket and black baggy jeans, the emphasis of his performance was on his presence, rather than his rapping abilities. He would scream his signature ad libs into the mic and rap a handful of lines from each song he played.

(Photo by: Anthony Cavale)

The stadium setting wasn’t quite fitting for a stellar Playboi Carti performance. Carti thrives best in a festival setting where a crowd is packed shoulder-to-shoulder, singing every word while mosh pits break out from the barricade to the outskirts. At State Farm Stadium, there wasn’t an area for fans to mosh because the floor was composed of seats. This led to an awkward moment when Carti had to skip over “Stop Breathing” because the high energy of the track did not match the current energy of the stadium.

The performance came to an anticlimactic ending after Carti’s mic turned off and his crew slowly walked off the stage despite it seeming like he wanted to continue performing. The late start had caught up to him.

Wearing a gold-plated face mask and a studded black cloak, The Weeknd began the show at 9:20 p.m. with a duo of “Hurry Up Tomorrow” tracks, including “The Abyss” and “Wake Me Up.” His background dancers spanned the entire length of the stage, while matching the dystopian aesthetic of the stage design through fashion and dance.

The stage design consisted of a 30-foot-tall gold plated female robot and jagged building cutouts that were destroyed and repurposed from his previous tour. The large screen that backed the stage went back and forth showing various surrealist art animations and live footage of his current performance. 

The Weeknd played some of the biggest songs of his career, including “Starboy,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Take My Breath” and “I Feel It Coming”. The tracklist consisted mostly of his three most recent albums and included only one song from his original trilogy, “Wicked Games.”

Playboi Carti returned to the stage to perform “RATHER LIE” and their massive hit-collab “Timeless.” Carti seemed to fit better on stage when he wasn’t the main focus but rather an accompanying piece to The Weeknd.

(Photo by: Anthony Cavale)

The Weeknd repeatedly told fans, “The show isn’t over yet,” before launching into encore songs. After a euphoric rendition of “Blinding Lights,” he closed with the high-energy dance track “Moth to a Flame.”

After thanking the crowd multiple times for an outstanding opening show, The Weeknd left the stage.