Part of his "After Hours Til Dawn" tour, which began in June, the high-energy show lasted nearly two hours – following all-North American support shows from hip hop producer Mike Dean (US) and rapper Kaytranda (Canada) – meaning gates opened at 4 p.m. to a rush of mostly young people intent on getting a good spot.

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The Weeknd himself did not appear on stage until 9.30 p.m., bedecked in his trademark silver mask, which he removed around halfway into the concert, while the set design included a giant full moon suspended from a gantry above the crowd, an even more imposing silver figurine (see gallery) and a futuristic cityscape backdrop.

The Weeknd performed both some of his most well-known hits and tracks from his five studio albums, including the most recent release, last year's Dawn FM.

Though there was no encore, the entire extravaganza didn't come to an end until around 11.30 p.m., while traffic getting away from the song festival grounds and environs was gridlocked for some time.

Large numbers of fans had traveled from Lithuania, Latvia and also Finland, to attend.

The Weeknd, real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was born in Toronto in 1990 to Ethiopian parents, who had emigrated to Canada. His career began relatively anonymously via YouTube, where he started releasing music in 2009 in the early days of that site's existence. Influenced by Prince and Michael Jackson among others, collaborations so far include with Daft Punk, Drake and Ariana Grande. He has sold over 75 million records worldwide so far.

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