Swinging good times with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Place D’Youville

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Festival d’été de Québec, 9 juillet 2016, Scène Hydro-Québec, Place D’Youville. Crédit photo: Philippe Ruel

Dress a man in a zoot suit, tilt a hat on his head at a jaunty angle, put a trumpet or a saxophone in his hands, and somehow you know he’s going to take care of business just fine.

That was the breezy, confident vibe that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy exuded from the Place D’Youville stage on Saturday night.

Even before band leader Scotty Morris proudly announced that this year marked Voodoo Daddy’s 23^rd anniversary with a lineup that has remained intact from the outset, it was clear that the audience would be in good and capable hands.

And so they were. Despite steady rain, an exuberant crowd bopped along to a set that served as a friendly reminder that some of the best shows of the Festival d’été de Québec can sometimes be found on its smaller stages.

From the moment a smiling Morris and his considerable crew walked on, it was clear that this was going to be a swinging good time, rain be damned.

Knowingly or not, they chose an appropriate tune to kick off a Québec City show: “Diga Diga Doo,” which sounded close enough to the colloquial way of saying “OK” to get the crowd singing along on the chorus.

There was no going back after that, as the band seduced the audience from song to song, bee-bop-a-looping until the very end, when Morris strapped on his banjo to launch into “Why Me?” to close the show on the brightest note possible.

Along the way, the band delivered exactly what could be expected: a solid set of swing for the swinging masses.

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300 SHOWS – 10 STAGES – 11 DAYS OF MUSIC
July 7 to 17, 2016

For the complete festival schedule, visit www.infofestival.com