The Weeknd flew out a six-year-old superfan to his Philadelphia tour opener this weekend after his Toronto gig was cancelled.
Last week (July 8), Abel Tesfaye was due to begin his ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour in his Canadian hometown, but had to cancel the gig at the last minute due to a nationwide power outage of Canada’s main telecommunications company, Rogers.
After the cancellation was made public, footage went viral on Twitter of a young fan dressed as The Weeknd from the ‘Blinding Lights’ video crying and being consoled outside the venue.
The Weeknd then made a callout online for someone to identify the child in question, who was then revealed to be six-year-old Phoenix Prince.
In an interview with CBC, Prince’s father Blake said: “Phoenix was getting attention with his suit. We had a breakdown moment. He got upset over the fact the show was postponed, and somebody captured a picture.”
Revealing that he still hoped to see The Weeknd live one day, Phoenix added: “I would say that you’re the best artist and that I love your songs and you’re so good and I was really looking forward to [the concert].”
can someone please find him for me? https://t.co/vWFFnZj6Rv
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) July 9, 2022
After the Toronto cancellation, The Weeknd’s tour then began in Philadelphia on Thursday night (July 14), and the pop star flew Phoenix and his father out as special guests to the show, posing backstage and getting his ‘Blinding Lights’ suit signed.
Sharing photos on Instagram, Blake wrote: “I wouldn’t be able to put this last week into words if I tried. We are forever grateful for this moment. We are beyond thankful to Abel and his beautiful crew for their friendship, hospitality, generosity and for spending day with Phoenix and I. He will cherish this experience forever. Thank you a million times over.”
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The Weeknd recently announced new support acts for his upcoming North American stadium concerts after Doja Cat was forced to pull out.
Back in May, Doja Cat announced that she was to cancel all her 2022 live dates, including festival shows and the tour with The Weeknd, to recover from tonsil surgery.
The tour will now see support on select dates from Snoh Aalegra, Kaytranada and Mike Dean.
‘After Hours Til Dawn’ will take The Weeknd next to New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and more.
See the full list of dates below.
JULY 2022
Thursday 16 – New York, Metlife Stadium
Tuesday 21 – Boston, Gillette Stadium
Friday 24 – Chicago, Soldier Field
Monday 27 – Detroit, Ford Field
Thursday 30 – Washington, FedExField Thursday
AUGUST 2022
Thursday 4 – Tampa, Raymond James Stadium
Saturday 6 – Miami, Hard Rock Stadium
Thursday 11 – Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Sunday 14 – Arlington, AT&T Stadium
Thursday 18 – Denver, Empower Field at Mile High
Saturday 20 – Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium
Tuesday 23 – Vancouver, BC Place
Thursday 25 – Seattle, Lumen Field
Saturday 27 – San Francisco, Levi’s Stadium
Tuesday 30 – Phoenix, State Farm Stadium
SEPTEMBER 2022
Friday 2 – Los Angeles, SoFi Stadium