The Weeknd's Faceless 'After Hours Til Dawn' Tour Look: Gimmick Or Genius?

The Weeknd, famous for his boundary-breaking stage presence, has unleashed a bold new look, and it does not seem to sit well with some people.

His faceless persona on this ongoing tour is stirring the pot, recently reigniting the controversy surrounding his artistry. Critics, fresh off coming at him after the debut of his HBO series "The Idol," are back again with their opinions concerning his new persona. 

Following back-to-back July concerts, the 20-time Billboard Music Awards winner finally landed on the Latin American leg of his tour. However, he did not just arrive to serenade the audience with his expansive discography; he came with a revamped look that might not be everyone's cup of tea. 

On the social media platform X, a page uploaded a video of the songwriter on stage. The "Echoes of Silence" artist was captured playing a synthesized keyboard wearing a dark camouflage ensemble with one robotic arm and a matching helmet.

The silver headgear covered most of his face, leaving just enough space for his mouth. Pop Crave quoted the clip with the caption, "The Weeknd debuts a brand new look for his Latin American leg of the #AfterHoursTilDawn stadium tour." 

While his fans must have loved the look, judging by the excited screams from the video, other X users were not as keen. This netizen wrote as much, "His fans might love it, but this honestly doesn't look good, why are you hiding your face?" 

Another critic did not spare the actor and came for his musical artistry by pointing out that the look was "mid like his music." Someone else thought that he was "Trying WAY too hard" before asking to "bring back "Lowlife" Weeknd?" 

Because of the electronic music sound in the footage, others sarcastically compared him to two famous names in that genre. Someone wrote, "What is this? Dude thinks he's deadmau5 now," while another chimed, "Daft Punk is that you??" 

This particular critic did not mind the look but felt it was a waste of "rebranding just to still sound like The Weeknd." Meanwhile, one user was just over the whole tour and wondered when it would end, and at the same time, a cybernaut was just happy that he was "covering his face." 

There were even some who brought his TV series into it. "Been microdosing the Weeknd's discography until i forget about the idol so i can find his music believable again," this netizen wrote. Amid the criticism, some took a more humorous path, like this person who jokingly noted that they thought the mask was the villainous character, Venom. 

Unfortunately for his critics, the 33-year-old's tour is far from over, and they would probably get to see more of his innovations during the Australia and New Zealand part of it. The "Kiss Land" artist is gearing up to rock stadiums, starting on Nov. 20 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.

He will make stops in Accor Stadium, Sydney, on Nov. 24 and Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, on Dec. 1, culminating in a grand finale at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 7. The Weeknd, boasting four No. 1 hits in Australia, will be joined by special guests Mike Dean and Chxrry22 on the ANZ tour. 

The show featured the singer and Johnny Depp's daughter, Lily-Rose, and consisted of explicit content that, among other factors, garnered significant negative attention. Despite all that, the Primetime Emmy Award nominee expressed in an interview with Variety that he remains unfazed by the backlash the controversial series has faced since its debut. 

Even though he was accused of subpar acting, The Weeknd maintained that every element seen in the show was intentional. He emphasized, "We're playing with genres with this show; we're doing exactly what we wanted to do. And none of this is a surprise. I'm excited for everyone to watch the rest of the show."

At the time, it was three episodes deep and had been under fire for its unsavory content and allegations of a tumultuous set environment under director Sam Levinson. The 4-time Grammy Awards winner even remarked that "The Idol" was educative and remained hopeful that it would impart a valuable lesson about fame. 

In his words, "It's almost educational that this is what comes with being incredibly famous. You're surrounded by people who you're not sure what their true intentions are, even if it seems like they're good. You never know.