"The Weeknd came out in full swing at the ACC in Toronto last night. His homecoming show and first stop on The Madness Fall Tour proved to be a polar opposite to summer's intimate set at the Mod Club, selling out the nearly 20,000 person capacity venue." - BlogTO
The first time I really noticed The Weeknd he sold out Mod Club. Back in 2011 and it was considered a huge feat by an artist no one had heard of besides Drake posting some of his lyrics.
I thought he was dope and thought it was incredible that all the upper class White kids that frequented my club were going crazy over slow, dark, R & B.
I told him as much when I ran into him outside of one of his boys' retail stores at Spadina and Richmond all those years ago. We had a brief conversation, I was riding my bike and stopped to tell him how dope I thought he was and encouraged him to keep going and invited him to come check out Kreayshawn for one of my film festival events.
I thought what he was doing and the talent he had was incredible...but didn't think it would last or "blow" beyond his novelty. I knew he would be big...but not this big.
Not that I thought he wasn't talented or not making dope music, but didn't see it lasting with this ADD "Turn up" generation. I thought he'd be one of those artists that have some hits here and there, but would be a "Canadian" phenomenon.
Boy, was I wrong. The kid sold out the ACC and is making world wide musical history.
4 years ago, he was barely known and almost homeless. Now he's one of the biggest stars on the planet. Don't sell yourself short. WORK your ass off and always be prepared. Mazel Tov, Abel. I'm glad I was wrong...about you and your generation.
KB