The Weeknd, also known as Abel Tesfaye, first burst onto the scene in 2012 with his debut album, “Trilogy.”  After selling almost 300,000 copies, it was time to follow up on his success with “Kiss Land.”  To support this latest effort, The Weeknd took over Brooklyn, New York on Friday, September 19^th at the Barclays Theater as part of his “King of the Fall” tour. The two opening acts were Jhene Aiko and Schoolboy Q.

The first of the night to perform was Jhene Aiko. She released her new album “Souled out” on September 9^th. She performed songs from that album such as “The Pressure” and “To Love & Die.” Other songs she performed, like “Stay Ready” and her hit “The Worst,” were from her first album “Sail Out.”  I was a little disappointed by her performance. I had very high expectations for her because her voice on both of her albums is so amazing, but unfortunately it didn’t sound the same live. My favorite part of her performance was during her song “Stay Ready,” when she started rapping Kendrick Lamar’s part for him because he couldn’t attend the concert.

After Jhene got off stage, Schoolboy Q came out. He was amazing! He performed his two hit songs, “Studio” and “Man of the Year,” as well as his songs “Gangsta,” “Break the Bank” and “Hell of a Night.” During the whole performance the crowd was on their feet dancing and singing. I’ve only listened to a few songs by him before attending, but after the performance I wanted to go home and listen to his whole album.

The Weeknd came on stage around 10:45. As soon as the lights went out the crowd went insane. He started his first song, “Enemy,” with a screen on stage projecting his face. Getting into the second verse, he came out from behind the projector and everyone went crazy! He mostly performed songs from his first album Trilogy, which is what made the concert amazing.  Some other songs he performed were “What You Need,” “Gone,” “The Morning” and my favorite, “Loft Music.”  Every song he performed got the same massive amount of crowd reaction. The show ended with an encore of him performing “Or Nah” and “Often.”

Although the song selection was great, one thing that was a little disappointing was his level of crowd interaction. Last year, when I saw him at Radio City on his “Kiss Land” tour, he spoke to the crowd a lot more. During this concert he said a few things during and at the end, but nothing compared to how much he spoke last time.

My overall opinion on the concert is that it was incredible! This show left me very eager for him to release his next album. I highly recommend that everyone go to his concert next time he is in town.