The Weeknd’s highly anticipated return to Australia and New Zealand has officially been cancelled.

The stadium outing was first postponed in November 2023, just three weeks before it was due to kick off due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Australian event ticketing company Ticketek informed ticketholders on Tuesday (23 April) that the Canadian singer, real name Abel Tesfaye, would not be making the trip Down Under.

“The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours Til Dawn Tour’ for Australia & New Zealand is still in process of being rescheduled,” Ticketek revealed.

“Whilst we continue to work through the rescheduling process with the artist, tickets for the existing 2023 tour will be cancelled. All purchased tickets will receive a full refund,” they continued.

“The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours Til Dawn Tour’ for Australia & New Zealand is still in process of being rescheduled”

Ticketek is encouraging ticket holders to join the waitlist for a forthcoming announcement to gain access to a priority pre-sale.

Originally, The Weeknd was due to perform 11 dates in the region including at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, Sydney’s Accor Stadium, Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Eden Park in Auckland.

The Weeknd launched his After Hours til Dawn stadium tour in summer 2022 and grossed US$130 million from 19 shows that year.

He returned to the road in June 2023 and completed 42 shows in Europe and Latin America, earning $220,985,529 at the box office from a ticket total of 2.2 million.

During the European leg, the star smashed Wembley Stadium’s record for sales with a traditional concert set up with 87,000 tickets sold. The artist also set a new attendance record for London Stadium after drawing 160,000 fans over two nights in July 2023.

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The Weeknd has postponed his Australia & New Zealand stadium tour two weeks before it was due to start, citing “unforeseen circumstances”.

The Canadian singer, real name Abel Tesfaye, was set to perform 11 dates in the region from 20 November to 9 December this year, spread across Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, Sydney’s Accor Stadium, Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Eden Park in Auckland.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we must reschedule the Australia/New Zealand tour,” says a statement from The Weeknd. “New dates will be announced next year and current tickets will be valid for the new shows. Refunds will be available for those unable to attend the new dates. Deeply disappointed but can’t wait to be there with you!”

A message from Live Nation Australia & New Zealand reads: “We understand fans will be disappointed, and Live Nation is focused on working with The Weeknd to secure a new tour schedule. We will make a further announcement as soon as possible.”

The After Hours til Dawn Tour launched in the US in July last year and has been attended by more than three million people so far.

“Everybody was hoping the situation would resolve and the shows would still go ahead – there have been over 600,000 tickets sold”

A tour insider tells Yahoo Lifestyle: “Some venues heard rumours earlier this week the announcement may be coming, but everybody was hoping the situation would resolve and the shows would still go ahead – there have been over 600,000 tickets sold.

“Postponing with this short notice is a logistical nightmare. Nobody knows what’s up, Abel and his team are keeping quiet about the reasoning.”

The Weeknd pulled in over 1.6 million fans to the tour’s European leg earlier this year and shattered Wembley Stadium’s record for sales with a traditional concert set up with the stage at one end with 87,000 tickets sold. The artist also set a new attendance record for London Stadium after drawing 160,000 fans over two nights in July.

After Hours Til Dawn‘s most recent tour stop was in Latin America in September/October.

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The Weeknd has added new shows in London, Paris and Nice to his recently announced ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour for 2023 in the UK, Europe and Latin America.

The new London date will take place at London Stadium (cap. 66,000) on 8 July, the day after his first show there on 7 July. He will also perform at the Etihad Stadium (53,400) in Manchester on 10 June as well as Marlay Park (40,000) in Dublin on 28 June.

In Nice, the Canadian singer-songwriter-producer (real name Abel Tesfaye) will perform at the Allianz Riviera (45,000) over the weekend of 22–23 July and then two shows at the Stade de France (81,338) in Paris the following weekend. Kaytranada and Mike Dean will join the CAA-repped singer on all European dates.

Tesfaye recently concluded his record-breaking North America leg, which grossed over US$130 million to date

Following the European dates, the tour will visit several venues in Latin America including Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and more before wrapping up in Santiago, Chile on 15 October at Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida (25,000). The additional dates take the tour up to 30 stops.

The outing is in support of The Weeknd’s 2020 album After Hours, as well as his critically-acclaimed album Dawn FM, which was released in January this year.

Tesfaye recently concluded his record-breaking North America leg, which grossed over US$130 million to date.

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The Weeknd is continuing his After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour with newly announced legs in Europe and Latin America.

The Canadian singer-songwriter-producer (real name Abel Tesfaye) recently concluded his record-breaking North America leg, which grossed over US$130 million to date.

The next leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour will kick off 10 June 2023 at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium in the UK, with stops in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and more before wrapping up in Santiago, Chile, on Sunday 15 October at Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida. Additional 2023 dates will be announced soon.

Kaytranada and Mike Dean will join the CAA-repped singer on all European dates. The outing is in support of The Weeknd’s 2020 album After Hours, as well as his critically-acclaimed album Dawn FM, which was released in January this year.

The Weeknd’s global After Hours til Dawn tour was originally scheduled in 2020 (when it was just the After Hours tour) to hit 105 arena dates beginning June 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic – first to 2021 then January 2022 and then summer 2022.

The singer recently concluded his record-breaking North America leg, which grossed over US$130 million to date

In October 2021, the singer/producer broke the news that he was nixing the 104-date arena trek in favour of stadiums, saying “I want to do something bigger and special for you which requires more stadiums”.

For the second leg of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, Tesfaye – a United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador – will once again partner with the U.N. World Food Programme to contribute funds from the second leg of the tour to the XO Humanitarian Fund, which supports the organisation’s response to the global hunger crisis.

One Euro from each ticket sold across Europe, £1 in the UK and the $1 equivalent in countries across Latin America will go to this important cause. The fund raised money during the North American leg of the tour through ticket sales, proceeds from an exclusive tour t-shirt, and a $500,000 donation directly from The Weeknd.

The Weeknd’s corporate partners, tour venues, World Food Program USA board of directors and supporters also stepped up to contribute, as well as tour sponsor Binance, who contributed US$2m to the fund. The first grant of $2m will be going to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to the most food-insecure regions of Ethiopia.

The After Hours Til Dawn tour is powered by Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, bringing Web 3.0 technology to concert-goers worldwide.

Ticket holders receive souvenir NFTs in addition to access to an exclusive NFT collection for The Weeknd’s tour, in collaboration with HXOUSE, a think-center and community incubator for creative entrepreneurs. Five percent of the sales from the upcoming tour NFT collection will be donated to the XO Humanitarian Fund.

AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR 2023 EUROPE TOUR DATES:

Sat Jun 10 – Manchester, UK – Etihad Stadium

Wed Jun 14 – Horsens, Denmark – Nordstern Arena

Sat Jun 17 – Stockholm, Sweden – Tele2 Arena

Tue Jun 20 – Oslo, Norway – Telenor Arena

Sat Jun 24 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijiff ArenA

Wed Jun 28 – Dublin, Ireland – Marlay Park

Sun Jul 2 – Hamburg, Germany – Volkspark Stadium

Tue Jul 4 – Dusseldorf, Germany – Merkur Spiel Arena

Fri Jul 7 – London, UK– London Stadium

Tue Jul 11 – Brussels, Belgium – King Baudouin Stadium

Fri Jul 14 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park

Tue Jul 18 – Madrid, Spain – Cívitas Metropolitano

Thu Jul 20 – Barcelona, ​​Spain – Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium

Sat Jul 22 – Nice, France – Allianz Riviera

Wed Jul 26 – Milan, Italy – Ippodromo La Maura

Sat Jul 29 – Paris, France – Stade de France

Tue Aug 1 – Bordeaux, France – Matmut Atlantique

Fri Aug 4 – Munich, Germany – Olympic Stadium

Sun Aug 6 – Prague, Czech Republic – Letnany Airport

Wed Aug 9 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy

Sat Aug 12 – Tallinn, Estonia – Tallinn Song Festival Grounds

AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR 2023 LATIN AMERICA TOUR DATES:

Fri Sep 29 – Mexico City, Mexico – Foro Sol

Wed Oct 4 – Bogotá, Colombia – El Campín Stadium

Sat Oct 7 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Nilton Santos Engenhão Stadium

Tue Oct 10 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Allianz Parque

Fri Oct 13 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – San Isidro Racetrack

Sun Oct 15 – Santiago, Chile – La Florida Bicentennial Stadium

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The revamp of The Weeknd’s 2022 tour could generate up to US$300 million in ticket revenue, according to Billboard, making it one of the year’s top-grossing tours.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the After Hours 2022 tour – which was previously rescheduled three separate times due to the pandemic – would be again retooled with larger shows and added stadiums across the world.

The newly renamed and revamped After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour will feature new dates in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and the Middle East but further details are yet to be announced.

“Due to the constraints of arenas and the demand for more shows I want to do something bigger and special for you which requires more stadiums,” wrote The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, on Instagram on Tuesday (19 October).

Some one million fans who purchased tickets to the original tour dates are to be refunded automatically, all of whom will be given priority to buy tickets for the stadium shows when they go on sale.

The Weeknd may be able to achieve [up to $300m in sales] this while performing 30% fewer shows

This means that promoter Live Nation will be on the hook to refund more than $100m in sales – which is 2.5% of the company’s total annual balance sheet – according to Billboard.

However, if the overhaul works out, The Weeknd could double or triple ticket revenue up to $300m in sales, by Billboard’s estimation, making it one of the year’s top-grossing tours.

On top of that, The Weeknd may be able to achieve this while performing 30% fewer shows – since large stadiums often have two to four times the capacity of arenas.

The Weeknd’s global After Hours til Dawn tour was originally scheduled in 2020 (when it was just the After Hours tour) to hit 105 arena dates beginning June 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic – first to 2021 then January 2022 and now to summer 2022.

The rejuvenated tour comes after The Weeknd scored the longest-charting Billboard Hot 100 song of all time with ‘Blinding Light’ and the second longest-running No.1 album on the Billboard 200 for 2020 with After Hours.

The Grammy award-winning artist also headlined the 2021 Super Bowl Halftime Show, which is traditionally the most-watched event of the year on US television.

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