Watch The Weeknd’s Disturbing Short Film for ‘After Hours’
By Jem Aswad
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Fans may have noticed that every video and television performance released by The Weeknd in the run-up to the March 20 release of his next album, “After Hours,” is thematically linked and part of a larger story that is gradually unfolding. That continues with the release of a “short film” that bears the name of the album and its recent title-track single — although the music in this new film is almost all instrumental and, well, we can only guess at what’s going on here.
The clip, again directed by Anton Tammi, begins with smiling onstage at “Jimmy Kimmel,” as the audience cheers after he completed his performance of his recent single “Blinding Lights ” — he’s wearing the same red suit jacket that he wears in other clips, and he’s got the same busted nose we saw him get in the song’s official video . (He followed a slightly similar theme when performing “Heartless” on “ The Late Show” in December, wandering around the halls of the Ed Sullivan Theater.) But he wanders out of the show’s studio and into an oddly quiet street, gradually growing more upset until he finally enters a subway station — where sh– gets really weird. We see him being dragged rapidly by some invisible force down the platform until the scene cuts away, and we see a young couple enter a subway elevator. Inside is The Weeknd, looking much calmer — but as the doors close and the elevator ascends, we hear a woman screaming inside, which is presumably the newly evil Weeknd murdering the couple.
All in all, it should make for an interesting next installment when The Weeknd is the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend — and possibly on his tour in support of the album, which launches in Vancouver on June 11 and has newly added dates in London, Los Angeles, Toronto and Miami (see full dates below).
This week “Blinding Lights” became The Weeknd‘s 7th #1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart, the most for any artist. Internationally “Blinding Lights” has been the #1 airplay song in both Germany and France for 7+ consecutive weeks, and it has recently hit #1 in Australia as well. Impressively, it has been the #1 song on the official charts in France and the UK for 3 consecutive weeks and counting.
The After Hours Tour Dates:
June 11 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
June 12 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
June 14 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
June 17 – Winnipeg, MB – Bell MTS Place
June 22 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
June 24 – Chicago, IL – United Center
June 26 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
June 27 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesar’s Arena
June 29 – Toronto, ONT – Scotiabank Arena
June 30 – Toronto, ONT – Scotiabank Arena
July 2 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
July 4 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun
July 7 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
July 8 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
July 11 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
July 13 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
July 15 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
July 16 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
July 18 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
July 19 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
July 21 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center
July 23 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
July 24 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
July 25 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
July 27 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
July 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Smart Home Arena
July 31 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
August 1 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
August 3 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
August 4 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center
August 6 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
August 8 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
August 9 – San Diego, CA – Pechanga Arena
August 11 – Glendale, AZ – Gila River Arena
August 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
August 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
August 16 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
August 19 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
August 20 – Ft. Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
August 22 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
August 23 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center Omaha
August 25 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
August 26 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
August 28 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
August 31 – Toronto, ONT – Scotiabank Arena
September 1 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Arena
September 3 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
October 11 – London, UK – O2 Arena
October 12 – London, UK – O2 Arena
October 13 – London, UK – O2 Arena
October 15 – Newcastle, UK – Metro Radio Arena
October 16 – Birmingham, UK – Arena Birmingham
October 18 – Glasgow, UK – SSE Hydro
October 19 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena
October 23 – London, UK – O2 Arena
October 26 – Antwerp, Belgium – Sportpaleis
October 27 – Amsterdam, Holland – Ziggo Dome
October 29 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes-Benz Arena
October 31 – Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle
November 8 – Hamburg, Germany – Barclaycard Arena
November 9 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
November 12 – Paris, France – AccorHotels Arena
