Mike Dean revealed how he landed a gig opening for The Weeknd on his After Hours Till Dawn tour in 2023.
During a sitdown conversation with Our Generation Music, Dean reflected on the tour and how he ended up opening for the Toronto megastar. According to Dean, the opportunity presented itself during a livestream.
"I opened up for him on the U.S. tour last summer," said Dean. "That came about during a livestream actually. I was doing a little livestream on Instagram, and Abel was tuned in on Instagram. And he texted me during the live stream, like, 'You should just open for me.'"
He continued, "It was amazing. I get to go out, have a budget, get production, and make shit look cool... As the tour went on, I learned that I need to do a mixture of my hit songs along with the weird shit that I like to do."
Dean and The Weeknd have a strong working relationship that goes back to the Canadian crooner's 2015 album Beauty Behind the Madness. The legendary producer/engineer assisted with the live arrangments to several of The Weeknd's musical projects, including his 2022 Coachella headlining performance, remixing "Starry Eyes" off Dawn FM, contributing to the "After Hours Nightmare" Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses at Universal Studios, and more.
Most recently, Dean co-wrote and produced the Weeknd's single "Double Fantasy" featuring Future off the soundtrack to The Weeknd's controversial HBO series The Idol. In April, Dean also released his fourth mixtape, 4:23, which the Weeknd co-produced.
