The Bad Day; Blues Band

Darlington Forum - 9th June 2023

Well, last night, looked like a night where most the Blues cognoscenti went to see Bonnie Raitt. (Gateshead) husbands were dragged to see Pink (Sunderland) and fathers dragged along to Sam Fender (Newcastle); Darlington Forum offered an island of sanity by offering another great VFM gig with a venue debut of The Dad Day.

These lads hit the ground running in 2017 and gained a fair momentum before the World paused; but since then, they have regained the momentum, toured hither & tither and put out 2 albums, the first of which Table By The Wall gathered a good few nods to make it a hard act to follow. However, the lads are on the road with their eponymous album and things are sounding better than good.

So on stage, Adam (vocals & bass); Sam aka "Mr Sprinkles" (harmonica & backing vocals); German (drums) & Nick (Guitars & backing vocals) lay down a mix of their own quality material with crackin' Blues standards and Rock'n'Roll standards, done in their own unique style. There's quality here, that's beyond question, but there's also a quirky humour in the way they twist some of the numbers; these guys are out to have as much a good time on stage as they deliver to those off-stage; and let's face it, it's not work if you're enjoying it - just catch German's smiling face, as he pounds the drums into submission, or the constantly dancing feet of Mr Sparkles...

Usually, a band I've never seen, I spend a week on YouTube; not this time: I was impressed 2 songs into the set, and hooked by the 3rd.   Excellent show.

No vid as yet from the show, but here's some from earlier in the year when they visited Stockton's Cleveland Bay: -
Everyday I have The Blues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aytyqIkKKbY
Tennessee Whiskey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRWvwTK2NUg
Jump Blues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ornRnQBFSHU
When The Cage Comes Down - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aTuWrcshas