Dan Patlansky – Borderline, London – 27th April 2015

The night kicked off with Tristan Mackay, a solo performer and former busker. He plays with an acoustic guitar and uses a device to record short bits of playing then replay them in a loop which means he’s able to play more complex stuff than if he just used the acoustic guitar alone.
It’s a good set that includes material from both his albums, and his talking to the crowd between songs comes across well.  It’s a good start to the night, but most people here are here for the headliner, South African guitarist Dan Patlansky.

When Dan Patlansky and his band take to the stage there’s a definite cheer, and they kick off with an instrumental, Drone, before the distinctive riffs of his single “Backbite” take things up a notch.  While Dan sings and plays guitar, he’s backed by a drummer and a bassist, so with just the three of them the small Borderline stage seems far roomier than normal, giving them freedom to move around as they want.

This is the first UK tour for Dan Patlansky and he goes all out to put in a performance to impress the crowd.  As tonight is the release date of the new album, “Dear silence thieves” then it’s no surprise that the set tonight is based around the album, with almost all the songs on the album being played tonight – by my count, eight out of ten songs in the album got an airing tonight.
His guitar work is excellent and ranges from the loud heavy riffs of “Backbite” to soft gentle parts that have the entire crowd listening in silence to every detail of what he plays. The set ends with a long extended version of “Voodoo chile”, and what a spectacular version it is – a stunningly good version that was an absolute pleasure to hear.
Dan Patlansky may be fairly unknown in the UK but judging by his album and tonight’s gig then that is going to change.  After the current tour, he’ll be back in the UK later in the year supporting Joe Satriani.

Setlist;

Drone
Backbite
Taking chances
Pop collar jockey
Your war
Hold on
Bring the world to its knees
Only an ocean
Feels like home
Hash palace / Bubble
Madison lane
Voodoo chile

Encore:
Fetch your spade
Backbite reprise

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