WORKING FOR 

THE WEEKND

First there were a couple of songs uploaded to a Tumblr. Then a Drake co-sign, then a hazy Xanax hangover of a mixtape, House of Balloons, one of the best r&b records of the nascent decade. This week, after much anticipation and a last-minute balk at Vice magazine’s Upfront Extravaganza, the Toronto singer/producer the Weeknd makes his first New York appearances, playing Wednesday, April 25, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and tonight at the Bowery Ballroom. With the lights down and the self-loathing up, you might want to—as he suggests on that mixtape’s opener—be high for this.

Sat., April 28, 8 p.m., 2012