The cheers of the crowd filled the room as Lucky Daye made his way back to the edge of the stage. Bathed in a purple spotlight and carrying a black guitar, the singer paused as the crowd screamed at the chord progression of “Roll Some Mo”. Small clouds of smoke, illuminated by the spotlight, swirled around the singer. The Algorithm Tour had officially touched down at the Bayou Music Center in Houston. As the cheers quieted after a guitar solo Daye grabbed the microphone and moved towards the edge of the stage.
“Can I play something for y’all that changed my life?”
As the hit single from his debut album filled the room the crowd swayed alongside the beat.
“You could be anywhere in the world but I’m glad we’re all in Houston right now. I’m loving my life. I hope you’re loving your life. That’s what this is all about.”
David Brown has been making waves using the stage name Lucky Daye since he first appeared on American Idol back in 2005. While he didn’t make it to the end of the competition, he quickly began making headway in the industry, writing for artists like Keith Sweat, Keke Palmer, Ela Mai, Mary J. Blige, and Ariana Grande. The work behind the scenes paid off, giving him the experience he needed to craft his debut album, Painted.
That debut earned the singer a nomination for best R&B album, best R&B song, best R&B performance, and best traditional R&B performance. He later released and EP, Table for Two, which earned him a Grammy award for best progressive R&B album. He turned around a couple of years later and dropped the critically praised 2022 album Candydrip.
Now the New Orleans native is touring off the music from his latest offering, Algorithm. He’s worked with Beyoncé and Blige and the experience is reflected in his stage show. For quite some time R&B music was overshadowed by other genres — pop, rock, and Hip Hop — but artists like Lucky Daye are giving the music new life.
Daye easily moved through crowd favorites like “Roll Some Mo,” “Over” and “That’s You,” but still balanced those chart toppers alongside sultry tracks from the new album. Algorithm continues to define Daye’s sound and solidify his place in the world of R&B and the live performance showcases the fullness of the music.
The singer, flanked by his band, most wearing leather vests to display their physiques, kept the focus of the show on displaying his voice. Fans received a glimpse of the show online when Daye recently went viral for serenading Melyssa Ford of the Joe Budden Podcast, and while the video may have gone viral for its visual appeal, the members of the podcast came to the same conclusion of many others: Lucky Daye can sing.
It’s an all too obvious point to make but in a world of autotuned voices and purely production driven projects it’s a more than welcome offering to the resurging genre.
Setlist
Soft
Never Leavin’ U Lonely
Extra
Pin
NWA
Think Different
Roll Some Mo
How Much Can a Heart Take
Breakin’ The Bank
Algorithm
Buying Time
Misunderstood
Floods
Love You Too Much
Paralyzed
That’s You
Ego
Over
Top
Fever
Used to Be
Lemonade
Diamonds in Teal
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
