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The Weeknd premiered an unreleased song that samples the opening theme from the classic anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" during the opening show of the Asian leg of his After Hours Til Dawn tour at Belluna Dome in Saitama, near Tokyo.
Weeknd was joined onstage by Yoko Takahashi, the Japanese singer behind the original 1995 theme "A Cruel Angel's Thesis."
The song, titled "Tokyo," marks the second time on the current tour that The Weeknd has debuted a new track named after the city where he was performing. He introduced a similarly titled song, "Rio," with Brazilian star Anitta during a tour stop in Rio de Janeiro back in April.
The Weeknd, Abel Tesfaye, paired the performance with visuals from Yoko Taro, the writer-director behind the 2017 video game "NieR: Automata," blending imagery from the game with scenes from "Neon Genesis Evangelion."
At one point, Tesfaye stepped back entirely, letting Takahashi perform "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" solo as he swayed along at the rear of the stage.
The steady flow of new music is notable given that Tesfaye had repeatedly suggested he planned to retire the Weeknd name following 2025's "Hurry Up Tomorrow," the album that closed out a trilogy started with "After Hours" (2020) and "Dawn FM" (2022).
Since then, he has walked that back. Speaking to a crowd in Stockholm last month, Tesfaye said he had "tested retirement a little bit" and did not like how it felt, adding that he plans to stick around.
He repeated that sentiment in an interview with GQ Hong Kong, saying he had gotten a taste of retirement and decided it was not for him.
The After Hours Til Dawn tour, launched in 2022, has grown into the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist. Its Asian leg moves next to Jakarta on Sept. 26-27, then heads to Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong before wrapping up in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 4.
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