The Weeknd closed out his two-night Late Show residency Friday with a riveting rendition of his new single “Blinding Lights.” The performance marked the first time the singer born Abel Tesfaye had played the song live.
Unlike the previous night’s “Heartless” performance, the Weeknd actually appeared onstage for “Blinding Lights,” but he still went beyond the usual late-night fare with a black-and-white visual that utilized side-by-side screens that captured the Weeknd, standing inside a lit-up cube, both head-on and with his back toward the camera so the Ed Sullivan Theater audience is seen.
Midway through the track, the cameras are repositioned to create an almost mirror effect as Tesfaye eventually exits the cube and moves toward the audience.
On Thursday’s Late Show, the Weeknd sang “Heartless” in the labyrinthine back hallways of the Ed Sullivan Theater, only emerging on the Late Show to shake hands with Stephen Colbert at the song’s conclusion. Both new singles mark the Weeknd’s first release since 2018’s My Dear Melancholy EP.