The Weeknd bumps tour dates to summer 2022
Oct 19, 2021
Washington [US], October 19 : Singer-songwriter The Weeknd's 'After Hours' tour, which was originally scheduled to launch in June 2020, and was later set to re-launch in January of next year, but owing to several factors, the trek has now been escalated to a stadium tour and bumped to the summer of 2022, with dates to be announced in the coming weeks.
According to Variety, the general itinerary has also been updated to include North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.
"The 'After Hours' tour dates are moving and will commence in the summer of 2022 due to constraints of arenas and the desire to do something bigger and special for fans that will require stadiums," the artist announced in a statement on social media on Monday.
"New dates forthcoming. Current tickets will be refunded automatically and all ticketholders will be given priority to buy tickets for the stadium shows when they go on sale," he added.
The purpose of the move might be two-fold. First, as stated, the tour has been rebranded, it is now called 'After Hours 'til the Dawn', reflecting the theme and perhaps the title of his forthcoming new album, which he had tipped to Variety earlier this year.
Also, after his eye-popping halftime performance at the Super Bowl in February, the Weeknd has proven that he can stage a stadium-sized show. He released a new single titled 'Take My Breath' in August.
But also, the ongoing pandemic and the inconsistency of social-distancing precautions across North America has made the return of arena tours a significant challenge, although several such tours are taking place at the moment.
Moving the dates to next summer not only allows for The Weeknd to stage a bigger show but holding the concerts in the open air also alleviates many concerns about mass gatherings, as per Variety.
