Dan Patlansky @ Musos, East London: 10/11/2010

Banditman

Its the first time in roughly 3 years that I've gotten to hear Dan live - call it timing & work putting me in different places at the "wrong" time. I won't make this an anorak review. He's touring through promoting "Move My Soul", next gigs in P.E.

Simply top-notch. The sound quality was fine, the connection with the crowd great & the music was superb. It's always a treat to get to a virtuoso performance because we simply don't see enough of them. Heck it'd be worth it simply for the tone he gets out of a Strat alone.

Humble Man (local guys) opened. I missed that part of the gig but aparently they were solid as always. They've been playing blues together for a long time, so no surprises at that.

Standout numbers for me? Dan's version of Voodoo Chile always makes my jaw drop in the way he plays the Beast to within an inch of its life, and it's always a crowd pleaser. My real choices for the night would have to be "Luca" and (excuse me if I miss the title slightly) "My dad's old gun". What's really interesting is seeing how Dan's maturing as a guitarist. As I said to him afterwards: 3 years ago he was brilliant and still channeling a lot of Stevie Ray. Now he's sounding more & more like Dan Patlanksky. Makes you wonder what the next 5 years will produce.

What really speaks volumes more about Dan as a person is the conversation I enjoyed with him afterwards. As said, I'd last seen him live about 3 years previously. I walked up to thank him for the gig & got an immediate, "Hey long time no see - Gonubie, wasn't it?" We ended up having another good yack over a drink.

So: world-class musicianship & a genuinely warm and open character. Shot Dan - thanks for the music, and catch you at the next one.

bloukie

I saw him at the Blues Room in Sandton circa 2003 and he was SRV incarnate - and that says a lot in itself about Dan's ability in itself. However, Dan (the man!) was somehow getting lost and I wondered when we would be able to hear his unique artistic voice.

Its starting to come through and it been worth the wait.

And I agree about his approachability. And it makes me wonder whether there is something unique about the blues that can keeps its bluesmen/women humble? ?

[deleted]

bloukie wrote: And I agree about his approachability. And it makes me wonder whether there is something unique about the blues that can keeps its bluesmen/women humble? ?

I like the sentiment and don't want to derail the thread, but I don't think this is in any way limited to playing blues. In my experience (randomly) Kurt Darren is the nicest guy you could hope to meet; some other Afrikaans artists less so. Shaun Morgan/Welgemoed gives up time to chat to people while plenty SA "English" rock singers who have achieved far less than he has are so stuck up it's laughable. Mandoza is approachable; some other performers in his genre less so. Etc, etc, etc. There's no one course to dealing with success, and I'm gladdened every time I meet someone who hasn't become besieged by their own ego in the process of becoming famous. Dan has certainly stayed on the "right" side of the line, if you like your stars approachable. And he deserves kudos for it.

bloukie

I agree with what you're saying Stratisfear - you can find good folks scattered throughout the industry. Kurt is a good if seemingly unlikely example (to some ?) that I can confirm.

Its just that the approachability of bluesmen like BB King for example, are legendary.

Vades

I caught Dan's show last night at Toni's Place in PE and to say I was blown away would be an understatement. At R60 a ticket it almost seems criminal to be able to see a guitarist of his caliber at that price.