Since the astonishing Dear Silence Thieves emerged in 2014, Dan Patlansky has been relentlessly on the road, working to open up a rapidly-increasing international audience. The equally-excellent Introvertigo, a quickly-conceived follow up, maintained the pace and boasted killer track Sonovafaith, but it was this year’s Perfection Kills that truly upped the ante. Self-produced (having had Theo Crous at the helm for the previous two outings), Perfection Kills captures Dan at his rocking best, and the live shows, in which Dan effortlessly summons the spirit of Hendrix have now reached a level of blistering proficiency that few artists can ever hope to attain.
Although nominally still touring in support of Perfection Kills, this tour (his second this year) provides the opportunity for some deeper cuts, which means that we get some interesting asides from the aforementioned Dear Silence Thieves and, much to my very great pleasure, the killer opening cut from 20 Stones. It makes for a powerful night in which Dan and his band make an hour and a half seem a mere matter of minutes.
The first night of the tour sees Dan hit Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms. Nestled next to Rock City, the Rescue Rooms is one of those great live venues that is large enough to pack in a decent-sized crowd and yet small enough to feel intimate. Get a good audience in there and the room crackles with energy, particularly if you have a barnstorming performer like Dan Patlansky taking to the stage. With doors at 7:30 and the first act not until an hour later, the place is comfortably full when support act Gorilla Riot take to the stage. They deserve a good crowd and their raucous, heavy take on blues, which draws on everything from trad blues to Alice in Chains, benefits greatly from the band opting to place three guitarists on stage (one of whom is pretty much dedicated to slide), not to mention the fact that their snappily-dressed singer (Arjun Bhishmar) is both charismatic and blessed with a powerful set of pipes. Energetic and effortlessly entertaining, by the time Gorilla Riot bring their too-short set (airing tracks from American Honey Vol. 1) to a close, the cheers are loud and sustained and it’s easy to see why Dan Patlansky would want them along on this tour. If you’ve not caught the band before, head over to their Facebook page and see what all the fuss is about, you’ll be glad you did.
With Gorilla Riot having dutifully warmed up the crowd, the sense of anticipation hangs heavy in the somewhat airless space in front of the main stage. Half an hour elapses before Dan makes a low-key entrance to rapturous applause. He launches straight into a blazing instrumental before hitting high, low and hard with a monstrous rendition of Perfection Kills‘ opening track Johnny. This is blues Rock with a capital R, Dan alive with the spirit of Hendrex and Zeppelin and as his riffs pour off the stage, so the audience lean closer in, just waiting for the next wave to engulf them. It isn’t long in coming, either, for, having introduced bassist Tom Swan, an unusually chatty Dan takes us into an unexpected and quite excellent taking chances from Dear Silence Thieves. Slowing the pace briefly (a necessary tactic to avoid the audience spontaneously combusting), Dan leads us into the poignant never long enough which, with its rippling keys and sparkling chorus, is a highlight, only for heartbeat to eradicate all that has gone before in an heroic display of guitar pyrotechnics. Dark and heavy, like the bastard offspring of voodoo child, heartbeat is a thrilling display of muscular blues power and it takes the slow-burning hold on for the senses to stop reeling.
Dan’s eclectic writing style is laid bare on too far gone, which incorporates elements reminiscent of soundgarden before Dan introduces the night’s slow blues track, judge a man. With incandescent soloing played out over a surprisingly quiet and respectful auditorium, the Bonham-esque crack of the drums serve to drive the mighty bring the world to its knees, which, for all the world, sounds like a tough reworking of when the levee breaks filtered through the eyes of Cornell and Iommi albeit with a solo so epic, you can almost imagine Dan taking Slash’s place on the November Rain cliff edge to record it. Blistering single sonovafaith flashes past in a heartbeat before Dan introduces big things going down, a lengthy, super-slow blues only slightly marred by the over-excited gentlemen in the front row shouting “play the blues motherfucker!” during the song’s quietest section. One last nod to Dear Silence Thieves sees the mighty back bite (a long time favourite of mine as it effectively introduced me to Dan’s work) level the building, before Dan ends the set as it begun, with a lengthy instrumental (my Chana) that concludes, as it so often does, with Dan mercilessly torturing his long-suffering guitar to the obvious delight of the assembled throng. It is the perfect ending to a perfect set which could only be improved by doubling in length and it leaves band and audience exhausted and elated in equal measure.
A ferocious rocker and a sensitive bluesman all rolled into one, what sets Dan apart from his peers is his rare gift for melodies that lodge themselves firmly in the brain. His sound is distinctive, his riffs fiery and his voice a whiskey-soaked delight – all of which equals an explosive set. With a crack band behind him and a set-list to die for, Dan tears up the stage in Nottingham with such dazzling brilliance that the night will remain seared in the memory of all those who attended.
