The Weeknd @ Congress Theatre [Review]

Last night was hipster's paradise at Congress Theatre as devotees patiently waited for their favorite Canadian crooner, The Weeknd to perform a compilation of their favorite hits. Each member with their own private list, they ultimately had one common goal--to get an experience to coincide with the mixtapes.  

Considering the wait was three and half-hours though, a decent show was well deserved. As an inexperienced Weeknd-er, I took a lap around to get a sense of the crowd.

To my surprise, I realized I was at the heart of a melting pot. All types of colors, creeds and backgrounds came out to the show, yet most were couples. One I had the pleasure of meeting, a Hispanic and Indian twosome who had the chance to see him at Lollapalooza. He was so good that they wanted to see him again. The only difference is, Lolla wasn't behind closed doors. And we were all waiting to see what he had in store for us.

Then, it happened. Everything went dark, touchscreens went sideways, and center-stage was lit up with the night’s superstar. The crowd lit up in excitement, as an uninhibited Weeknd poured out his soul to us.

We were all prepared to recite back to him the emotion infused words we loved. His set featured bangers from his most popular tapes (House of Balloons and Thursday) and he had us all thinking we were competing for a spot on the stage as we whaled and wined. On various occasions we were complemented on our amazing singing abilities. And we loved it.

Ultimately, love was the number one take-away from the entire evening. As lovers held each other close and hips grinded to the beat, we all knew we weren’t going home alone tonight. And if you did, you had someone waiting for you.

That’s how much LOVE filled the room. Fans loved the Weeknd. He loved us. The couples loved each other. We all loved the night.

At the end of it all, he reminded us just how much we loved it during his performance of “The Crew.” “They lovin’ the crew, they lovin’ the crew!” he sang. And that we did.