The Weeknd has unveiled a new song titled «Tokyo» during the opening night of the Asian leg of his «After Hours Til Dawn» tour, performing the unreleased track with Japanese singer Yoko Takahashi at the Belluna Dome in Saitama, near Tokyo.
The performance marked the live debut of «Tokyo», which incorporates elements of «A Cruel Angel's Thesis», the opening theme Takahashi famously sang for the influential 1995 anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Takahashi joined The Weeknd onstage for the song, and the stadium visuals featured characters from both Neon Genesis Evangelion and the video game NieR:Automata. The visual presentation was credited to Yoko Taro, the creative director best known for his work on the NieR series.
After performing «Tokyo» with The Weeknd, Takahashi also delivered a rendition of «A Cruel Angel's Thesis» for the Belluna Dome crowd, with The Weeknd playing along onstage. Fan-shot footage of the segment circulated widely online, and The Weeknd later shared official footage on social media, captioning it «Presented by YOKO TARO ft. YOKO TAKAHASHI.»
The song was performed again during the second Belluna Dome show. The two concerts launched the final Asian stretch of the «After Hours Til Dawn» stadium tour, which has been running since 2022 and became the highest-grossing tour by a male solo artist in history. The tour will next head to Jakarta for shows on September 26 and 27, followed by dates in Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong before concluding in Kuala Lumpur on November 4.
«Tokyo» is the second unreleased song The Weeknd has debuted onstage this year. In April, he premiered «Rio», a collaboration with Anitta, during a concert in the Brazilian city. That performance featured dancers and pyrotechnics, accompanied by an animated film directed by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike.
The emergence of new material follows repeated suggestions by The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, that he intended to retire the stage name after his 2025 album «Hurry Up Tomorrow». The record completed a trilogy that began with 2020's «After Hours» and continued with 2022's «Dawn FM», and Tesfaye previously said he felt he had «overcome every challenge» as The Weeknd.
He reversed course during a Stockholm concert last month, telling the audience: «I'll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear. I tested retirement a little bit, and I don't like the way it feels. Imma be here forever with you.» He doubled down on those comments earlier this week, telling GQ Hong Kong: «At one point I thought, 'What if I just stopped?' But then I realised what a waste all of that inspiration would be. I can't let that happen. I had a glimpse of what retirement looks like, and it isn't for me. It's a real privilege to do what I do. There's nothing else like this job.»
Earlier this summer, The Weeknd kicked off the European leg of the tour in Copenhagen, before playing two nights at Manchester's Etihad Stadium and a sold-out five-night run at Wembley Stadium.