ST. PETERSBURG — Two things became clear during the sold-out Jannus Live stop of Dominic Fike’s Out of Order tour.

Fike loves Florida.

And Florida loves him right back.

By Gabrielle CaliseTimes staff

There was no dramatic hype song playing as the 26-year-old Naples native emerged Monday night at Jannus Live. He walked onto a fully-lit stage to one sound: a chorus of cheers from his fans.

“What the f--- is up, Florida,” he said. “Man, I’m home.”

Most of the attendees hovered around or below the singer’s age: Zoomers wearing their finest baggy pants, crop tops and the occasional smear of glittery makeup a la “Euphoria.” It made sense. The HBO drama introduced Fike to a brand new audience when he joined the cast for its second season this year.

But Fike didn’t reference “Euphoria” at all during his set. Not during his between-song banter. And not while crafting his setlist. “Elliot’s Song,” the lengthy tune that Fike performed in-character during the show’s finale that inspired many tweets and memes, was missing.

To be fair, Fike became a rock star well before “Euphoria.” During his tumultuous teenage years in Naples, he started posting songs online and performing with local rap collectives (he tattooed the initials of one, Lame Boys ENT, on his forehead). Fike recorded his debut EP while on house arrest for battery of a police officer. The songs dropped while he served time in Collier County Jail for violating house arrest in December 2017. He was released the following April to multiple major labels fighting to sign him, eventually ending up at Columbia Records after a deal speculated to be worth $4 million. Since then, Fike has collaborated with everyone from Brockhampton and Halsey to Justin Bieber and Paul McCartney.

Keep reading ‘Euphoria’ star Dominic Fike shared Florida love at St. Petersburg show

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