In Review: Skydaddy

Photography: Anna Dallas

Skydaddy, a stage name for London based musician Rachid Amado Fakhre, made a return to Bristol to play The Louisiana as a part of his Uk tour. Releasing music since 2023, Skydaddy has made two EP’s, the first of which, ‘Pilot’, came in 2024 and the second, ‘Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles’, arrived in January 2025. These releases have seen Rachid define his new sound, which is grounded in folk-like qualities of natural vocal acoustics and tied together with picturesque orchestral compositions. 

Skydaddy  is accompanied by five multi-instrumental band members who took their turns playing clarinet, flute, violin, tuba, drums, a guitar and keys. Rachid, for the most part, was positioned at the front of the stage. Tall in stature, he loomed into the crowd fitted with one shoe and one glowingly green sock. “Alright kids?” he asked by way of introduction. 

The set began with and maintained a saccharine soundscape that was structured by Skydaddy’s vocals and the tender instrumental arrangement of strings and woodwind instruments. ‘Albert Bridge’, from the most recent EP, went down well as a playful guitar riff, made more playful when Rachid changed the lyrics from ‘Albert Bridge’ to ‘Clifton Suspension Bridge’ in one of the verses, drawing a warm response from the Bristolian audience. Songs from both EP’s featured, but a song that summed up the set and Skydaddy’s sound overall was the duet, performed with Black Country New Road’s Tyler Cryde, ‘Tear Gas’. The song was originally written more than seven years ago by Rachid about a past relationship. When Tyler Cryde submitted a cover of it on Rachid’s then radio show, the two reimagined it in a more solemn light, and have since performed it as a fans’ favourite during most gigs. There is a tenderness in this song that serves to both demonstrate feelings of love and counteract those of heartache, which are both themes present in a lot of Skydaddy’s songs. 

‘Mushrooms’ was the penultimate song of the set and definitely a highlight. The drummer, who had now acquired a tuba from out of nowhere, announced that he needed to get the note, which he did professionally with the clarinet, before Skydaddy raised again, this time shoeless baring both effervescent green socks, to address his orchestra who watched him closely. Like a true conductor, Rachid waved his hands, wafting coded instructions across the stage to his disciplined band; beginning the tune with authentic emotion, reminiscent of the content of the song, which is about the 2020 Beirut explosion. From the opening orchestral combination of notes to the last expulsion of air, the song was played and received with delirium as Rachid emanated a sort of Bowie like buzz, belting out the lyrics into the audience. 

The set was concluded with ‘That Morning’ from Skydaddy’s ‘Pilot’ EP, the last display of a beautiful communication of musicianship and friendship, both as important as the other in this band, that demonstrated why Skydaddy should be considered a force to be reckoned with at the forefront of London’s musical subgenre of alternative indie-rock.