Apple Music Live released a new special featuring Dominic Fike, filmed at the Cadence Bank Amphitheater in Atlanta on June 25 during a concert supporting Fike’s latest album, “Sunburn.”
Fike delivered a 24-song set, starting with “How Much Is Weed?” and concluding with the encore, “Wurl.” The standout moments of the performance included “Baby Doll,” “Mona Lisa,” and the collaboration with Paul McCartney, “Kiss of Venus,” in an otherwise tame performance.
The concert opened with the alternative rock artist Hether. After their set was a 45-minute intermission during which set up for filming took place.
During the intermission, the film crew, strapped with camera equipment, resembled soldiers entering a war zone. Audience members, unaware of the unpublicized filming, either paid no attention to them or attempted to get on camera. The control center was situated behind the pit where the dolly tracks, cameras and lights are coordinated.
In a last-minute scramble to fill in empty portions of the pit, crew members began handing tickets to audience members, even those leaving the restroom. Finally, the stage is set for Dominic Fike.
Fike and his band took the stage, which is bathed in cinematic lighting, to a cheering crowd. Locating Fike among the band takes a moment, as natural dark curls have replaced his trademark bleached buzzcut.
A few times during the set, Fike made stage banter joking, “I don’t like cordless microphones. I think they’re corny. But I’m corny too,” as he wrapped himself in the cord.
He went on to introduce his performance of “The Kiss of Venus” by saying, “I made this with one of the Beatles, dude,” referring to McCartney.
Ultimately, Fike’s stage presence lacks the energy necessary for a large venue, substituting the approach of “playing to the back of the house” for the intimacy of a camera close-up. The results are that Fike appears tired throughout.
Traditionally, concerts are about the live performance, but filming changes that dynamic. It is intended not for the live audience but for the streaming audience, edited and polished in post-production. The final product becomes for the camera rather than the fans.
The special is now streaming on Apple Music and Apple TV+. Dominic Fike can be heard wherever you find music, like Spotify or Pandora Radio.
Apple Music Live is a streaming series that captures live concerts by popular music artists. Previous episodes have showcased performances by artists like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran.
Dominic Fike first gained recognition on SoundCloud as a rapper before achieving wider fame as an actor in the popular HBO series “Euphoria.” Fike is now a popular musician with recent appearances on the soundtracks of both the “Across the Spider-Verse” and “Barbie” movies.
