Concert Review: Lucky Daye
February 20, 2020
In 1971, Bill Withers released his debut album, Just As I Am. Withers, at the time of its release, was 32 years old, and a few months shy of turning 33. By most industry standards, he was “too old” — and not an obvious choice for a label to sign. Most labels were interested in child prodigies, and substantially younger acts — Little Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, The Miracles, and countless others had dominated the 60s and early 70s. Withers, a former airplane mechanic, had been workshopping his demo, but no one gave him any looks. But, as told in Clarence Avant’s Netflix documentary, Bill just had something, a charisma, a level of talent that he, Avant, couldn’t deny, signing him to his label, Sussex Records, making him the flagship artist.
Much like Bill Withers, Lucky Daye’s solo career got somewhat of a late start. Lucky Daye, born David Brown, has been working his way around the musical landscape for nearly 15 years, as a writer and composer, contributing to the likes of Trey Songz, Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige and others. While he hadn’t released any of his solo material, he was crafting and polishing a sound of his own. Last year, at 33, Lucky Daye released his debut album, Painted, recalling much of the Funk, Soul, and R&B, of the past with a contemporary flare, to much critical acclaim.
On Thursday, February 13th, Lucky Daye played a sold out show at The Foundry. After the show, I talked to Kevin about Lucky’s performance, his potential as an artist, and more! Here’s our conversation:
Stanley: After getting passed over on Lucky Daye's Painted Tour, he finally came to Philly! What did you think of the show?
Kevin: Man! Lucky Daye... he came out to a hero's welcome. I think he realized it may have been a mistake to not come through Philly during his Painted Tour - he even mentioned that someone was fired because of it (may have been pandering, not sure how accurate this is lol). But I thought the show was excellent. He essentially ran through his album and honestly, to me it just solidified how great that album really was. His voice is identical to the album and showed no signs of fatigue as the night went on. I will say, my other takeaway was his authenticity. He seemed to really enjoy the love from the crowd in a way that says that he is still getting used to this level of fame. He also is a hilarious talker in that between songs, I had no idea what he was saying but I was onboard for all of it lol.
Stanley: Yeah, I'm in agreement - his show was absolutely incredible. From the second he walked out for Try Your Fire to the very last song, it was super intense. The energy was consistent throughout the night. Like you said, he did all of the songs from the album, and people knew all of the words, or at least most of them! lol You don't see a lot of artists touring that 1. Have an album (not an EP) and 2. Do the entire album front to back (without it becoming a snooze fest). Just really impressive all around.
Stanley: You were on the super-marathon run last week. 4 shows in 4 nights: Michael Kiwanuka, Earthgang/Mick Jenkins, Raphael Saadiq, and Lucky Daye. How does Lucky Daye's compare to the others you went to? Where does Lucky Rank for the week?
Kevin: Once my body forgives me, I will look back on this 4 shows in 4 nights run fondly lol. But, I think this is a difficult question and I'm searching for a cop-out here. So, I think I will throw Lucky in the Earthgang/Mick Jenkins tier and have Kiwaunka and Saadiq in a tier above. It's difficult to rank them because the styles of music and approaches are so different - also, venues play a big part here. The Foundry as a venue is abysmal and Lucky's performance sonically couldn't keep up with the others. Time is the only elixir - he has the ability but there are things he will improve as he continues (pacing, musical arrangements, etc.).
Stanley: The Foundry was so bad. The track kept cutting out on different songs, the sound is never balanced. It's just a mess. Even still. the energy at Lucky's show was crazy. But, all things considered, I think Kiwanuka was probably my favorite from the shows I saw - I've been going back to his album a lot since. I can see all of these shows being high on my personal year end favorites.
Stanley: Lucky Daye is clearly a superstar lol. From the minute he walked on stage to the end of the night, the energy was at a super high level. But, I'm wondering, what do you think his ceiling is both creatively and in terms of wide appeal?
Kevin: Lucky is apparently a heartthrob lol. The energy was palpable! And, you know we talked a bit offline about his appearance on the scene. You mentioned that he kinda has this .Paak trajectory and I think it's a good comparison. He has been doing the work but is now getting shine. I'm terrible at projecting someone's wide appeal because I'm so far removed from caring about that lol but creatively speaking, he is rooted in the right stuff (D'Angelo, Saadiq, etc.). The song "Fadeaway" from the soundtrack for The Photograph, really stood out recently. It was so polished and showed growth even from Painted. I'm not sure he will ever have the big single like a Miguel but I feel as if he will be tapped to contribute to projects like this moving forward. He has the voice and chameleon-like tendencies to blend in to any sound but to also stand out just enough.
Stanley: Yeah, he does feels a lot like Anderson .Paak, in terms of the style of musical and in terms of having "late" success. His trajectory's been interesting to read about and watch. There's a video of him auditioning for American Idol back in 2005 circulating on Twitter right now. He was writing for a bunch of different artists like Ne-Yo, Mary J Blige, and Trey Songz, under his government name, David Brown, so its like no one would ever know who he was for a while anyway lol. He's kind of just been around for a while but finally broke through with Painted.
I like the music and tradition he's rooted in too. In a lot of ways he feels like a contemporary version of Prince, Raphael Saadiq, D'Aneglo, etc - not that he's as good, but that he is taking the things they've done and applied them in a different temporal context. I'm interested in seeing where he goes - he has many of the tools you would hope an artist has.
Stanley: Favorite moments/takeaways from the show?
Kevin: Honestly yo... I'm not sure I have one lol. This is weird to say but my only takeaway would be that he was beloved. It's not often that I go to shows and the artist throws their shirt in the crowd. He has a vocal, rabid fanbase and I actually enjoyed seeing/experiencing such energy.
Stanley: The energy in the room was next level. I, much like everyone in the room, liked the entire album lol. I mean, when he did Try Your Fire and Extra the roof came off! And Roll Some Mo? Never seen anything like it lol. He's prefaced the song, so you knew you knew it was coming, but it still felt unexpected. Not sure how he could hear considering how loud the audience was lol. But yeah, those are some highlights (beyond the entire show lol).
