The Baghdaddies get Diss Dancing

Posted on 29th April 2023

It’s been a while since the Corn Hall has been quite so packed and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it quite so boisterous, as the Baghdaddies took Diss by storm with a grand standing performance that had the audience dancing and stomping and clapping in celebration of a Balkan influenced Newcastle five piece that have been entertaining audiences for a quarter of a century.

The evening kicked off with the band taking advantage of the elbow room offered by early timidity, prowling around a half empty dance floor, each of them playing their chosen brass instrument. Not content with that, they wandered up into the raised seating, serenading individuals as they went, before settling to complete a warm-up set that showcased their undoubted musicianship. As their name suggests, there is a Middle Eastern flavour to their Romany influenced sound, as well as a healthy dose of jazz, ska, klezmer and even the occasional hint of reggae. Once on stage, and complemented by guitar and bass, this all came together , the party really started and the dance filled to bursting. A notable highlight was the Zombie conga which had the whole audience doing exactly that – snaking around the Corn Hall in the armed stretched manner of the undead. That’s not something you see every day.

All in all, much fun was to be had spotting people you knew behaving in an undignified manner, while they, no doubt, watched you doing the same. For all the bands disparate influences, what unites their sound is a funky danceability that had folk dragged from the sedentary safety of their seats and on to the dance floor by more enthusiastic participants. This was a night when people were going to jig about looking silly whether they came intending to or not.