Date: 4 April 2008 (Fri)
Time: 3rd act
Venue: Genting International Showroom
Occasion: Genting International Jazz Festival 2008



It was hot rollickin’ blues in the house alright! A crowd favourite judging by the vociferous cheers that reverberated through the house, “Diamond” Dave and the Doodaddies proved “…not only that the roots of the blues are strong and far reaching but that the blues is bright!”



“Diamond” Dave Billing and Dave Brewer are the twin figureheads of the band. Like Castor and Pollux of the Gemini in Greek Mythology, Brewer’s wailing guitar engaged in excited interplay with “Diamond” Dave Billing’s soulful Blues Harp all throughout the band’s repertoire of originals for the night. The two also contribute to the vocals with “Diamond” Dave taking the lead with utter clarity. Yes, they’re Aussies alright but the accent did not get in the way of understanding.

The moving, soulful and powerful introduction on the mouth organ or harp kicked off the session.



The band could do not wrong, blasting off with two fast major blues with “Good Time Charlie” one of them before moving down a notch in tempo to the slow-paced minor blues “Motherless World”.



Despite the apparent simplicity, the licks and solos on both the electric guitar and chromatic harmonica cut through the harmonic veil of a downtrodden atmosphere in “Motherless World”, with its bluesy strums and hypnotic bass riffs smelling of distress as well as the up-beat “Good Time Charlie” with its message of hedonism as an antidote!

It was time for some good ol’ Chicago Blues in “She Tried To Ruin Me” which sounded really cheerful in spite of the troubling lyrics.



The Doodaddies took us down in the dumps with the minor keyed “Lonely Part of Town”. What stood out the most is the way band sounded full for which credit should go to Dave Brewer for some skillful and dexterous work on the guitar tempered with an intuitive sense of melody. The electric guitar solo certainly ranks the best here.



Thankfully, good times were really around the corner with the sunny “Just Around the Corner” which sounded like a copy of the Temptation’s “My Girl”. Recognition should go into “Diamond” Dave’s work on the harmonica for the overall laid-back feel of the song.

For some reason, I thought that the original “I Can Tell” bore an uncanny resemblance to the late James Brown’s “I Feel Good”. Despite the rejection-motif storyline of a girl avoiding a guy, the audience were already eating out of the band’s hands as they sang “No more, no more, no more” in refrain to “Diamond” Dave’s “I can tell, I know you don’t love me, no more“.



Perhaps it was the way “Diamond” Dave endeared himself to the audience when he walked off stage to croon with some partying members of the audience. Then again, perhaps some people do live sad lives needing the blues as an antidote to shake it all off!



The band returned with “Hey Tomorrow Night!”, one of those call-and-response blues song before wrapping up with “Pretty Baby” with some pretty neat work on the harmonica.



“Diamond” Dave and the Doodaddies may not strike one as a very technical band. But it is really tight and the members have been playing together for years to the point where they are able to immerse themselves into the music and have a blast playing the blues without having to think too much about it. Credit also goes to Yugon ”Chob" and Bob Thomson for keeping the band in time with that rock solid rhythm.