The Weeknd conducted a rather unconventional performance of his new song, "Heartless," on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday night, where he was recently seen getting mobbed by a huge pack of excited fans. Colbert introduces the singer in the usual manner, but when the camera pans to the right to reveal the part of the set where the performance is supposed to take place, the band looks on helplessly as The Weeknd is nowhere to be found. Colbert, who is either genuinely confused or a better actor than we thought, appears back in frame looking as though he was not let in on the gag and has no idea what's going on.
We then follow Colbert as he walks off stage, gesturing to someone out of frame to handle this. A smooth tracking shot takes us in the opposite direction of the host, and lands on Abelas he takes a sip of his drink wearing his newly established signature uniform of a red jacket, wide-lensed sunglasses, and black and white dress shoes, the same costume he sports in the music video for the song. Abel traverses the white-brick-walled stairwells and hallways of the studio, trading his drink for a red mic with a nearby stagehand wearing a Bernie 2020 hat along the way, when he begins performing the hit song. The walls begin to move as the lights flicker and The Weeknd shows off some fancy footwork. Colbert employees surround him at times, completely unaffected by the shifting landscape of their workplace. As far as live late night performances go, this is definitely one for the books. The Weeknd will appear on Colbert again Friday night, and if his performance of "Blinding Lights" is anything like this, we're in for a ride.