The Toronto superstar lit up downtown Detroit with a stunning stage production full of blinding lights.

The lights were blinding inside Ford Field on Saturday night — as were the lasers, bursts of pyrotechnics and flashes from phones in the audience — as Toronto superstar the Weeknd brought his After Hours Til Dawn Tour to the downtown stadium, a stunning stage spectacle that made full, thrilling use of the Detroit Lions’ home and made his last stop at the venue, in July 2022, seem like a warmup act.

The stage was outfitted with a long runway that stretched the full length of the stadium floor, with two wings that expanded out to the sides. (From overhead, the stage resembled a cross.) Sections of the venue’s club level were blocked off to house huge lighting rigs which flashed weapons grade strobe lights, and the full production transformed the stadium into a massive dance floor for the sold-out crowd of more than 40,000 fans.

Those fans were treated to more than two hours of hits that were accentuated by dark synth stabs and booming bass drops while the Weeknd, aka 35-year-old Abel Tesfaye, sang over top in his smooth, polished tones. Saturday was the first round of the singer’s two-night stand at Ford Field, and he clocks in again for work at the venue on Sunday night.

“Remember I told you last time we were gonna play two nights?” he asked the audience, and indeed, that was a promise he made at Ford Field three years ago. Such a feat was unthinkable when the Weeknd made his Detroit debut at Saint Andrew’s Hall back in 2012 or when he played an undersold show at the Fox Theatre a year later, but such has been the run for the artist who started with a trio of mixtapes in 2011 and was known early on for never showing his face.

Now his face is everywhere, including the movies, and there were no mentions on stage of “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” the companion piece to his current album which is currently playing to empty audiences at a theater near you and is destined to pick up several Razzies at the end of the year. (The movie is, at best, unsuccessful, and that’s being generous.)

But that’s OK because the stage is where he belongs, and this time his vision was even more fully realized than the last time around, with a crumbling cityscape surrounding the main stage, a mega-sized video wall as the stage’s backdrop, and a towering gold statue at the center of the production that looked like either a hood ornament or an Oscar statue’s female counterpart.

A squad of more than two dozen female dancers wore all red and covered their faces with gold masks, and the Weeknd wore a hooded robe and a mask with light-up eyes for the first few songs. It was like if “Eyes Wide Shut” was a stadium tour, with pop-R&B as the soundtrack instead of the dark, eerie chants from the Kubrick movie.

This review is developing…

Lost in the excitement of draft picks and free agents, a healthy DJ Reader might be one of the most important aspects of the Detroit Lions’ offseason – and the veteran nose tackle will be entering training camp with something to prove after hearing whispers about his contract.

“I think there has been some slight disrespect thrown on DJ Reader’s name this offseason as a cap casualty. … Are you kidding me? They paid for DJ Reader for a reason. This guy is a game-changing nose tackle,” MLive’s Ben Raven noted on the latest Dungeon of Doom podcast.

For the first time in years, Reader is entering an offseason program fully healthy and ready to show Detroit exactly what it invested in.

“The biggest thing that I took away from DJ Reader, he said, like, hey, this is the healthiest offseason I’ve had in quite some time. And he’s just ready to get in there and get back rolling,” co-host Kory Woods said.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Lions’ defensive front, which is facing significant questions with Aidan Hutchinson returning from injury and Alim McNeill working his way back as well. Reader’s presence becomes even more critical.

The podcast hosts pointed out that Reader’s impact goes far beyond statistics. While casual fans might focus on sack numbers and tackles, Reader’s true value comes in occupying blockers, controlling the line of scrimmage, and making everyone around him better.

Despite questions about his deal, Reader made it clear that winning a championship is all that matters.

“He doesn’t care about anything else. He said he didn’t care about whether that extension got picked up or whatnot. Right now it is all about getting to that goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Woods said.

Check out the entire Dungeon of Doom episode below:

AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Dungeon of Doom podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.

At last, Matt Vierling has arrived.

The Detroit Tigers activated Vierling — an outfielder/third baseman on the field and a team leader behind the scenes — from the injured list ahead of their Friday, May 23, game against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he’s available as a pinch-hitter off the bench.

The 28-year-old had been sidelined since Feb. 23 — the second game of spring training — with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. In total, Vierling missed 51 games this season.

But now, he’s finally back.

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To create room for Vierling, the Tigers optioned left-handed reliever Sean Guenther to Triple-A Toledo. On May 24, the Tigers are expected to activate right-hander Casey Mize to start, which will lead to the demotion of a position player.

Vierling has been a mainstay for the Tigers the past two seasons.

He had the best results of his four-year MLB career in the 2024 campaign, hitting .257 with 16 home runs, 41 walks and 121 strikeouts in 144 games. He plays all three outfield positions and third base, but he performs best in center field and right field.

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Returning to the Tigers, Vierling projects to play right field and third base, with ex-infielder Javier Báez expected to continue roaming center field until Parker Meadows is activated from the injured list within the next three weeks.

Meadows — who has been sidelined since Feb. 22 with a right upper arm nerve issue — started his rehab assignment May 20, which began his 20-day rehab clock.

He must be activated by June 9.

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As for Vierling, he played 11 games on his rehab assignment. He hit .206 with two home runs, nine walks and 14 strikeouts in43 plate appearances. He spent five games at designated hitter, three games at third base for 21 innings, two games in right for 13 innings and one game in center for nine innings.

The Tigers took their time with Vierling’s rehab assignment to ensure the rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder wouldn’t resurface with throws from different angles.

It took 19 days, but Vierling eventually checked all the boxes.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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