The Weeknd is once again embarking on a North American tour this coming Fall along with his already planned concert dates with Florence And The Machine. The new tour dates include both old and new cities. Full listing below.

September 21, 2012 @ 7PM – Chicago, IL – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Sat. Aug 18 @ 10AM)
2134 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL (Congress Theater)

September 24, 2012 @ 8PM – Winnipeg, MB – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM CDT)
364 Smith St., Winnipeg, MB R3B 2H2 (Burton Cummings Theatre)

September 26, 2012 @ 7PM – Edmonton, AB – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM MDT)
2556-8882 170 St., West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB T5T 4M2 (Edmonton Event Centre)

September 27, 2012 @ 7PM – Calgary, AB – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM MDT)
1415 14 Ave. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1M4 (Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium)

September 29, 2012 @ 8PM – Vancouver, BC – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM)
100N Renfrew Street Vancouver, BC, Canada (Pacific Coliseum)

September 30, 2012 @ 7PM – Seattle, WA – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 12PM)
911 Pine Street Seattle, WA 98101 (Paramount Theatre)

October 10, 2012 @ 8PM – Phoenix, AZ – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Sat. Aug 18 @ 10AM MST)
440 North 32nd Street Phoenix, AZ 85008 (Celebrity Theatre)

October 12, 2012 @ 9PM – Houston, TX – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Sat. Aug 18 @ 10AM CDT)
520 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002 (Bayou Music Center)

October 16, 2012 @ 6:30PM – Orlando, FL – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
1490 East Lake Buena Vista Dr, Orlando, FL 32830 (House of Blues Orlando)

October 17, 2012 @ 9PM – Miami Beach, FL – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
1700 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139 (The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater)

October 19, 2012 @ 8:30PM – Atlanta, GA – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 12PM EDT)
395 Piedmont Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 (Atlanta Civic Center)

October 20, 2012 @ 9PM – Charlotte, NC – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
1000 NC Music Factory Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28206 (The Fillmore Charlotte)

October 22, 2012 @ 7PM – Boston, MA – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
15 Lansdowne St., Boston, MA 02215 (House of Blues Boston)

October 26, 2012 @ 8PM – New York, NY – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 12PM EDT)
610 W 56th St., Between 11th and 12th Avenues, New York, NY 10019 (Terminal 5)

October 27, 2012 @ 8PM – Bronx, NY – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 12PM EDT)
2403 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10468 (Paradise Theater)

October 29, 2012 @ 8PM – Montreal, QC – Buy Tickets (Pre-sale: Aug 16 @ 10AM / On Sale: Aug 17 @ 12PM EDT)
59 Sainte-Catherine Street East, Montreal, QC H2X 1K5 (Metropolis)

November 2, 2012 @ 9PM [19+] – Toronto, ON – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
11 Polson St. Toronto, Canada M5A 1A4 (Sound Academy)

November 3, 2012 @ 9PM [19+] – Toronto, ON – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Fri. Aug 17 @ 10AM EDT)
11 Polson St. Toronto, Canada M5A 1A4 (Sound Academy)

November 4, 2012 @ 9PM [19+] – Toronto, ON – Buy Tickets (On Sale: Tue. Aug 21 @ 10AM EDT)
11 Polson St. Toronto, Canada M5A 1A4 (Sound Academy)

A brief recap of OVO Fest 2012 with photos!

• • Special Guests: Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, Snoop Dogg (Snoop Lion), French Montana, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame, 2 Chainz (Tity Boi), A$AP Rocky
• • The show opened with A$AP Rocky taking the stage and performing a series of smash hits. Chase ‘N Cashe and A$AP Mob rocked out in front row.
• • After a brief intermission, 2 Chainz came on stage as the second opener and hyped up the crowd by performing Mercy and more.
• • The third opener, The Weeknd, followed by performing High For This, The Birds Part 1, Rolling Stone, Lonely Star, Wicked Games (acoustic) and more.
• • DJ Amy Traphouse jumped on stage to entertain the crowd on the 1s and 2s.
• • The lights went off and Drake appeared, dressed in all white/gold, in front of the crowd.
• • The Weeknd was resurrected from backstage to perform ‘Crew Love’ and ‘The Zone’.
• • A$AP Rocky came back on stage as per Drake’s request to perform a couple of songs for the crowd again.
• • 2 Chainz was called upon to perform ‘No Lie’.
• • Waka Flocka Flame came on for ‘Round Of Applause’ and more Brick Squad hits.
• • Meek Mill was summoned for ‘Amen’, followed by ‘I’ma Boss’ with Rick Ross.
• • Rozay stayed on stage as Drake brought out French Montana for a crazy performance of ‘Stay Schemin’.
• • Just when you thought things couldn’t get crazier, Drake called on the legend Snoop Dogg (Snoop Lion) to perform ‘I Wanna Fuck You’, ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ and more.
• • To top it all off, Nicki Minaj surprised fans during Drake’s ‘Make Me Proud’. She stayed to perform ‘Beez In The Trap’ with 2 Chainz as well.
• • Many celebrities, including Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and DJ Drama, watched from backstage.
• • At the end of the evening, Drake officially retired the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre (capacity ~16,000) as an OVO Fest venue. The 4th annual OVO Fest will be held at the Skydome aka Rogers Centre which has a capacity up to 55,000.
• • Drake wrapped up the show with ‘Headlines’.
• • Lil’ Wayne was unable to make it to the show despite being one of Drake’s surprise guests.
• • Shout out to all the bloggers from iLuvLola, You Heard That New, 2 Dopeboyz, Complex and more that joined us.
• • For those that ever had a doubt, I told you Meek and French were coming! See you next year.

In a recent interview with Toronto’s “NOW Toronto”, Drake revealed his thoughts on OVO Fest over the past three years, Toronto and his relationship with The Weeknd. Drake also got a new “416″ tattoo (Toronto’s local area code). I have included some excerpts from the interview below.

• “When I think of myself, I think of Toronto. My music would never sound the way it does if it weren’t for Toronto,” he says. “You talk about certain artists, and they sound like where they’re from. Myself and the Weeknd, we both just sound like Toronto.”
• Our town has never really been known for that particular kind of hip-hop civic pride. Drake started OVO Fest in part to help shift how we see ourselves as a city. “I just wanted to create a special night for the city. When I grew up, I always used to hear how we never get anything good coming through Toronto. “We actually do get some great things in Toronto compared to many other places, but it’s true that sometimes you might not see your favourite hip-hop artist for a full year, or even two. Sometimes we do get skipped over here.”
• “I don’t want people to just come for the surprise guests, but at the same time I do put in a lot of effort and take a lot of pride in the friends that I can call up to travel to our city. I don’t really call on too many people for favours, but for this one night I do.”
• It’s no surprise that he’s booking reclusive local R&B sensation the Weeknd to play OVO Fest for the second year running. Drake helped initially expose the singer to the world by posting an early recording on his own blog, and has since developed a close relationship with the emerging artist. … “Surface R&B doesn’t work any more,” says Drake. “The whole heartthrob thing, songs about unrealistic love and tearing your shirt off every show – that’s not really where it’s at any more. It’s becoming harder for those guys to sell records, and harder for them to succeed.
• “I could do a whole separate interview about how talented [the Weeknd] is and what he means to the city. I’m so proud of him. He’s going to come out and prove how far he’s come in a year and how much he’s evolved as a performer.”

For a full read of Benjamin Boles’ (@BenjaminBoles) interview with Drake, visit NOW Toronto. A great article which I personally recommend.

READ: Cover Story
READ: Sidebar (Featuring The Weeknd)

According to the folks over at HipHopDX, Drake will be performing a new single, featuring Aaliyah, at OVO Fest 2012. Tupac hologram at Coachella… Aaliyah hologram at OVO Fest? We’ll see this Sunday, August 5th at the third annual OVO Festival.

Special guests for this year’s event include A$VP Rocky, The Weeknd, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, French Montana and more… I’ll be updating directly from the event on Twitter. Follow @thewkndxo for full details.