Written by Mack

On August 18, Dominic Fike brought his Comedy Tragedy Parody Tour to Virginia Beach. This tour wasn’t your typical setlist of fan favorites; he is recording his next album live on the road, writing and performing songs before they are even finalized. This “living album,” How To Quit Smoking, is set to release on October 9, 2026.

photo taken from the crowd by Mack

During the show, everyone was singing and dancing along to the music, and that energy was carried throughout the entire set. You could tell he was enjoying it just as much as we were. With a setlist including songs like "Ant Pile," "White Keys," and fan favorite "Babydoll," it was hard not to move along with the music. At one point, he even stated that we were an “obedient” crowd and that these were the perfect playing conditions, almost as if he was “playing a concert simulator.” He was not wrong. The room was near silent when he spoke directly to us and erupted again the minute the music started back up.

Later on, he stripped it down to the basics. No band, no instruments, no vocals, just his laptop playing a preview of an unreleased song. This was such a special moment, as we got to hear a song in its raw form. No polish or production, just the idea itself. He sat on the stage listening with us, bobbing his head along with the music. During the playback, he said it was still in the works and actually cut it off mid-verse, stating, “it was too hard,” which caused a big reaction from the crowd. His teasing of the verse led to some comments online from fans who were at the show wanting to hear the rest of the song.

photo taken from the crowd by Mack

If you have been following along with him on this tour, you have seen How To Quit Smoking develop live, one show at a time. On his website, you can actually see some behind-the-scenes footage of the first song on the album, "Wallflower," that was taken throughout the tour. This is broken down by show, so you can see clips from those cities set to the song. If you have the chance to check out his second account on Instagram, @separatestreet, he posts lots of content revolving around the creation of this album. It’s worth catching him at one of the remaining tour dates if you can. With a live album like this one, you aren’t just in the crowd, you’re a part of the creative process.