With a dramatic, nearly half-minute-long tease, The Weeknd reached up and removed his sleek mask, revealing his beaming face on the enormous video screen behind him. The thunderous ovation that followed at his Allegiant Stadium concert on July 5 was so deafening the artist covered his ears, seemingly taken aback by the crowd’s response to his transformation from anonymous performer to Abel Tesfaye.

From the opening chords of “The Abyss” until that moment, the sold-out crowd of 65,000 had been energized. But this was different — maybe as loud as Allegiant has been in its five-year history.

The mask removal came at the end of “Faith,” a song about the Grammy-winning artist’s darkest period, including his struggles with drug abuse, heartbreak and an arrest stemming from a 2015 altercation at the Cromwell. On this night, The Weeknd changed the lyrics from “I lost my faith” to “I think I found my faith in Nevada.”

Looking up during the extended ovation, he acted taken aback, bowing to the crowd, waving and holding his mic stand over his head in acknowledgment.

“That’s a warm welcome, Las Vegas. That’s a very (warm welcome),” he said.

Then, in the next breath, he recounted his unique relationship with the city: “You guys know how special Las Vegas is to me, man. You guys know.”

The city, with its 24-hour, no-holds-barred reputation, served as a muse for The Weeknd’s trilogy of albums: 2020’s “After Hours,” 2022’s “Dawn FM,” and his recently released “Hurry Up Tomorrow.”

The singer acknowledged as much in his next sentences: “If it wasn’t for Vegas, there’d be no ‘After Hours.’ Just so you know. There’d be no such thing. You know that. There’d be no ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour. (It’s) all because of Las Vegas, and I love you guys so much. Thank you for the inspiration.”

The audience’s cheers for The Weeknd and his return praise continued well throughout the night. At one point, he told the audience, “You guys are amazing.  … You already know there is no question: Every tour, I’m coming to Las Vegas. Every tour.”

In all, The Weeknd performed parts of more than 40 songs. The rotation was heavy on the three latest albums, but he also mixed in plenty of his previous hits, including “Die for You,” “Starboy,” “House of Balloons,” “Moth to a Flame,” “I Feel It Coming” and “The Hills.”

During “Out of Time,” which he sang while strolling the length of the field on a walkway to a secondary stage at the north end of the stadium, he paused in front of a group of fans, one of whom had a sign noting someone’s birthday and another who was costumed like the elderly Weeknd portrayed on the cover of “Dawn FM.” “I love this: This is great,” The Weeknd complimented the costumed fan. Then, turning his attention to the sign, he asked, “Who am I signing to? Whose birthday is it?” He then shared the mic with the costumed fan and, presumably, the birthday girl, giving both of them hugs, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

As would be expected, the concert was a spectacle beyond The Weeknd’s artistry. His coterie of 30 masked dancers, clad in red robes that extended from their heads to their toes, joined him for much of the set. The light show accompanying the concert was otherworldly. Flame projectors were employed on all parts of both the main stage and field-length walkway. At the center of the walkway, a round stage was dominated by “Sexy Robot,” a 24-foot-tall chrome sculpture by renowned Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama.

There’s a widely held belief that this will be the last tour for the artist under the persona of The Weeknd. Much of the speculation holds that he’ll retire that moniker and instead revert to his real name. At the end of his tour-opening concert last month in Chicago, according to Instagram posts, he told the audience, “Chicago, Illinois, I go by the name of Abel Tesfaye, and I love you.”

But his closing message at Allegiant Stadium was noticeably different: “Las Vegas, I go by the name The Weeknd, and I … love you.”