Zayn did not come to Las Vegas to do the obvious.
From the moment the singer took the stage, it was clear he wasn’t catering to casual concertgoers looking to sing along with classic hits: there were no superstar duets, no string of top-streamed singles (except for the obvious closer, “Pillowtalk”), and no nods to One Direction. Instead, he opened with an unreleased song nobody knew.
This was a show for his stans.
And those fans were pulling for him. He was the first member to leave the stadium-filling One Direction and find solo success, only to be met early on with paralyzing anxiety that kept him away from the stage for years. It took a decade and four albums to return to touring with 2024’s “Room Under the Stars.” On that tour, he was relearning the stage. By the end of the 21-stop run, he’d found his groove: “I forgot how much I love doing this,” he said at the Los Angeles show just under a year ago.
At the opening night of residency at Las Vegas’ Dolby Live on Tuesday, Zayn found a safe space, wrapped in the warmth of a crowd filled with his biggest fans — clearly there to see him, and whatever he was going to perform. He honored those fans by performing songs from his early solo career that he had never played live before, and debuted new material; the 6,500-person venue felt almost intimate.
Even while battling a dry throat and sinus infection (for which he apologized three times), he delivered pristine vocals, his signature falsetto, and a noticeably stronger stage presence than on his last tour.
He took the stage in light-washed jeans and a white tee, with a cropped, gold-accented jacket over his shoulders. A full band and a trio of backing singers were arrayed behind him, while a massive screen reflected the room with mood lighting and the occasional lyrics that kept the performance stripped-down: The focus was always on Zayn, the music, and the rapt crowd.
The opening unreleased song, whose name Zayn never confirmed, had a soft energy to it that, in its chorus, felt almost referential to R&B sensibilities on his debut, “Mind of Mine.” It was only fitting that he followed the song with “She,” a fan-favorite from that album that he had never played live before. It was a complete surprise, and the shrieks in the crowd confirmed it.
“I’ve been in the studio a little bit,” Zayn told the audience with a coy smirk early on. “I got a new record coming for you guys pretty soon. I’m really excited about that… I’ll be playing some songs tonight for the first time. For you guys.”
The five songs he performed from that upcoming fifth record are less folky and rootsy, more catchy and gritty than his recent albums. “Used to the Blues” featured an alternative, almost One Direction-esque melody. “Fatal,” an EDM-tinged pop-R&B track, found Zayn’s singing in Urdu in the chorus. He also debuted the lead single, “Die for Me,” a yearning, almost Weeknd-esque track primed for radio. The new songs are less “Mind of Mine 2,” more “Mind of Mine” 2.0.
Speaking of which, the show did justice to the “Mind of Mine” songs that were absent from his last tour, and longed for by fans. He revisited “Borderz” and the haunting “It’s You,” which he had performed on his previous run, but also slipped in “Drunk,” a quintessentially 2016 cut that aligned with the wave of nostalgia for that year dominating the internet. In doing so, Zayn finally gave “Mind of Mine” — the strongest solo debut of the One Direction boys — its long-overdue flowers.
Could the show have been longer? Maybe. Clocking in at 90 minutes, it felt slightly shorter than a typical residency run, with room for pop hits like “Like I Would,” “Trampoline,” and “From Dusk Til Dawn.” But if Zayn has proven one thing over the course of his solo career, he’s not about following expectations. What matters is that he’s back, visibly more secure, and ushering in a new album that seems packed with commercial potential.
A “Vegas residency,” which continues through the end of the month, may have been an unexpected starting point for his new direction, but Zayn proved he belongs wherever his fans are. And judging by the sea of bright pink Zayn zip-ups scattered across the Vegas Strip Tuesday night, he can belong anywhere.