Live in Atlantic City

Background and release

On February 16, 2013, Beyoncé released Life Is But a Dream, an autobiographical television film. Released on the HBO channel, it garnered 1.8 million viewers for the initial broadcast, becoming the largest audience for a documentary since Nielsen Media Research revised its method of measuring viewership in 2004. However, critical commentary towards Life Is But a Dream was mixed with divided opinions by critics.

The film's home media release in a DVD and Blu-ray format was announced on October 30, 2013 along with a trailer. During the video, it was revealed that the release included a two-disc set, with the second part, Live in Atlantic City, being bonus concert footage filmed during Beyoncé's four-night residency show Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live at Revel Atlantic City in May 2012. A new song titled "God Made You Beautiful" was also featured on the concert film and heard as the background music in the trailer. The home media release was made available for pre-order on November 1, 2013. Live in Atlantic City was first released in Germany and the Netherlands on November 22, 2013 as part of the two-disc set of Life Is But a Dream. Three days later, the DVD was also released in the US, Canada and the UK and the Blu-ray version was released in the latter country the same day. In the US, the Blu-ray format was released on December 17, 2013.

After the concert film was released, videos of the performances of three songs were released online. The performance of "Schoolin' Life" from the DVD was previewed on Beyoncé's official YouTube page on November 25, 2013. A writer of Vibe magazine felt that the laser light show from the performance "brighten[ed] up Atlantic City". The performance of "Dance for You" was also uploaded to the singer's channel two days later. The live rendition of "Party" was the final uploaded video from the concert film on December 2. John Walker of MTV reviewed it positively writing, "The sparkling, goddess-like centerpiece in a swirling sea of pink feathers, Beyoncé shines like a true showgirl on stage. Thankfully, unlike the 1995 camp classic, none of her backup dancers look nefarious enough to try anything funny". Walker further praised Beyoncé's vocals and dance moves as "on point as always" and the "flawlessly areolicious bustier" she wore.

Content

The film contains live performances of twenty one songs along with a new song, "God Made You Beautiful", written by Australian singer-songwriter Sia Furler. Several short excerpts of the performances found on the concert film are also featured in Life Is But a Dream itself. The film opens with Beyoncé appearing in front of a large screen with her silhouette being seen. As the music of "End of Time" starts, she performs a choreography with her female dancers and French duo Les Twins on stage further singing the song's lyrics. "Get Me Bodied" follows with a similarly choreographed performance and for the third song "Baby Boy", the singer dances with her background dancers in front of a holographic background performing a Dutty Wine dance at the end. "Crazy in Love" and "Diva" are featured as the fourth and fifth song respectively. "Naughty Girl" is preceded by a video projection with a voice-over by Beyoncé talking about female sexuality. A snippet of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" is interpolated within it and the singer performs the song with her female dancers. She continues with "Party" for which a prominent Las Vegas showgirl theme is featured.

Prior to starting "Dance for You", Beyoncé announces to the audience that she is going to dance to the song without singing it. "Freakum Dress" opens with a short interlude during which several dancers appear onstage dancing with long dresses. Beyoncé appears and performs the song, interacting with her guitarist towards the end. "I Care" is performed by the singer alone on stage and during "Schoolin' Life" a laser show is displayed for a choreographed dance. "1+1" sees Beyoncé singing the song atop a piano and "Flaws and All" follows. "Run the World (Girls)" is preceded by a video interlude set to the music of "Countdown", shown on the screen onstage. A video featuring various footage from Beyoncé's life follows as she recites the lyrics from her song "I Was Here". After that, she performs the opening lines of "I Will Always Love You" a cappella as a tribute to Whitney Houston and continues with her own song "Halo". "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) is performed afterwards with the same choreography from its music video and "Green Light" is used as the concert's encore. "Love on Top" is the last song on Live in Atlantic City, performed by Beyoncé and her dancers as the credits for the concert film are shown.

"God Made You Beautiful" is featured as a bonus audio song on the concert film and it premiered online on November 22, 2013. It is a slow-tempo ballad, with a staccato beat and a gospel-tinged chorus. Instrumentally, it consists of drums, strings, pianos, runs and hand claps. It opens with an "echoey" a cappella choir and it lyrically talks about Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy as the singer tells that she "brought me back to life/you bring me back to life."

Commercial performance

On November 30, 2013, Live in Atlantic City debuted at number four on the Dutch Music DVD Chart and later peaked at number two in The Netherlands. The same week it also debuted at number ten on the Belgian Music DVD Chart in Flanders and at number 30 on the French Music DVD Chart. The next week, the DVD moved to number nine on the French Music DVD Chart, setting a new peak position in that country. On the Spanish Music DVD Chart it peaked at number 11 on November 25, 2013, which became its only placement outside of the top ten on a DVD chart.

The video debuted at number one in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2013, becoming Beyoncé's first British chart-topper on the UK Music DVD Chart in her entire career. It spent another consecutive week on top of the chart, before being removed to number two by One Night at the Palladium (2013) by Robbie Williams the following week. It spent six more weeks in the top five on the chart and it was seen for the last time on May 31, 2014 at number 40, having spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart. On December 27, 2013 the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the DVD with a platinum certification for shipment of 50,000 copies in that region. In the US, Live in Atlantic City became Beyoncé's fourth number-one video on the Billboard Top Music Videos chart, debuting on top for the week of December 14, 2013. In Australia, the DVD peaked at number two on the chart and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 7,500 copies.

Credits

Credits for Live in Atlantic City taken from the concert film's liner notes and Beyoncé's official website.