If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen photos and reviews of the Candlelight Concert Series. Word of the shows started to spread as the pandemic restrictions around the country began to ease, and music fans everywhere have been anxiously awaiting the shows that feature classical variations of contemporary songs from artists like Abba, Amy Winehouse and Taylor Swift. We were invited in by Fever to check out one of the performances in Las Vegas (the “Tribute to Taylor Swift”) and had a chance to talk to Associate Producer Erik Kausin about the concert series (with shows all over the country, including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C.).

The Concert Series Taking America By Storm

What inspired the Candlelight concert series?
Kausin: At Fever, we constantly strive to inspire our users with innovative experiences, creating new ‘Fever Original’ ideas that we know will be of interest to them. Candlelight launched when Fever, who was already hosting more traditional classical music concerts, saw a need to make this genre more accessible to its users, aiming to reach a new demographic and create more affordable concerts for all.

How is it decided which teams to bring the events to this year?
Kausin: At Fever, we often refer to ourselves as the “Netflix of experiences” ( we do collaborate with Netflix on many experiences, too!) – in part because of our data-driven approach. When it comes to deciding which cities or venues to bring our events to next, we combine our internal data from users already using the Fever marketplace with external sources such as Google Trends or Census data to make strategic decisions and produce events that guests will be more interested in attending.

What has been the most popular of the shows?
Kausin: While the more traditional performances of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are always popular, some of the crowd favorites in Las Vegas have been the programs where we mix old and new such as the Bach to The Beatles show or the Songs From Magical Movie Soundtracks program which includes pieces from animated films both parents and kids will cherish from classics like Little Mermaid to recent favorites like Frozen and Coco. Candlelight concerts also feature jazz and soul, and tickets to our Best of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole show are in high demand.

How does your team locate talent for each city?
Kausin: All of the producers in each city have their ears to the ground, scouting for talented musicians to welcome to the Candlelight stage. Fever has had the pleasure of working with several artists in each city ranging from local string quartets and jazz ensembles to Tejano bands and independent artists.

What tributes are coming later in 2022 and in 2023?
Kausin: In addition to our popular Tributes to Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse, and Queen, fans can expect to see our Candlelight ensembles pay homage to even more iconic artists like Adele, Juan Gabriel, and BTS. In addition to tributes to modern artists, you can also expect to see themed shows for Halloween and the Winter Holidays, as well as opportunities to hear timeless composers such as Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven.