Mr Kyps, Poole
Sunday night saw the welcome return to Kyps of the newest guitar slinger on the block, Dan Patlansky. Hailing from Johannesburg, this master of the Stratocaster isn’t quite the spring chicken you might think he is though, as he has been honing his craft for a number of years around the clubs and bars of his native South Africa, releasing the first of eight albums, Standing at the Station way back in 1999.
His first appearance at the venue occurred roughly a year ago playing second string to Laurence Jones, tonight he was top of the bill. The band have been in the country for a couple of weeks supporting King King, but this gig was their first headlining spot before crossing the north sea for a number of dates in the Netherlands and Germany. Tonight Dan was showcasing his latest release Introvertigo, which is gaining rave reviews from the rock press, with a band consisting of Clint Walker Falconer on bass, drummer Andy Maritz and Dean Barrett on keyboards.
He kicked off the show with Drone, an introductory warm-up instrumental which paved the way for a set containing virtually every song off the new album, starting with the powerful riffage of Sonova Faith, Stop the Messin’ and Poor Old John. Loosen the Grip, a slow blues burner brought the intensity down a notch or two, only for the band to ratchet up the tempo once again with the Hendrixian, Bet on Me, the dynamic Run, with its great wah-wah solo and Heartbeat, a slide work out that went down particularly well with the enthusiastic crowd. As the set wore on, he delved back into more familiar territory via Backbite and Fetch Your Spade from his 2014 album Dear Silence Thieves, which were highlights on his last visit. One hour and fifteen minutes flew by as he wrapped up proceedings with My Chana, an instrumental extravaganza of virtuoso guitar histrionics, tricks, sustained notes and feedback which built to a finale where he bounced the guitar up and down while clutching the bottom E string, at this point a number of guitarist in the audience held their collective breath as they envisaged his vintage 1962 Strat crashing to the floor, fortunately it was followed by a collective sigh of relief as the string held firm. To finish he returned for a two-song encore of Hold On and Queen Puree, before heading off to the back of the room to engage in a brisk trade of CD signing, posing for selfies and generally shooting the breeze with anybody who cared to listen.
Mostly, Dan’s songs are rooted in the blues-rock idiom but he doesn’t feel the need to stick rigidly to a tedious twelve bar format, he uses his song-writing skills to push the genre in different directions creating an interesting hybrid. Guitar-wise, he wears his influences on his sleeve, a Joe Bonamassa lick here, a hint of Hendrix and Phillip Sayce there and, almost inevitably a smattering of Stevie Ray Vaughan, it’s all there in the mix but mostly Dan’s his own man, a fiery intense player, with a fine voice shot through with just enough grit and conviction.
Just a couple of things to finish, it was great to see a healthy crowd of around two hundred people, I was expecting to be a Billy no mates with about fifty other lost souls, but no, let’s hope with the interest stirred up by this gig we can see more of this type of act at Kyps in the future.
And finally support came from The Blues Machine, a young power trio from Christchurch who did their utmost to blow the roof off. Maybe more stoner rock than blues, more Blue Cheer than Cream, but hey, they put in a spirited performance and the crowd liked them.
Dan Patlanksy – Setlist
Drone
Sonnava Faith
Stop the Messin’
Poor Old John
Bring the World To It’s Knees
Loosen the Grip
Bet on Me
Run
Heartbeat
Still Wanna Be Your Man
Western Decay
Fetch the Spade
Backbite
My Chana
Encore
Hold On
Queen Puree
Links
http://www.danpatlansky.com
https://www.facebook.com/thebluesmachineuk
Words by John Cherry
Pictures by Damien Godley
