Photo: Richard Bolwell

By Scott Bampton

On a typically bitter winter evening in northern England, Mollie Marriott’s job of “warm up” act takes on a quite literal meaning. With the crowd still filtering in to The Deaf Institute from the freezing streets of Manchester on March 15th, Marriott wastes no time breaking the ice with her sizzling vocals. Clad in in a black jeweled corset, Marriott effortlessly dazzles the rapidly filling room with tunes from 2017’s The Truth is a Wolf, as well as older favorites like “Ship Of Fools.”

Channelling her inner Stevie Nicks, Marriott pushes her fleet-footed backing band to keep pace with her – and they manage it in impressive style, not missing a single beat between them all night. By the time Marriott’s short set reaches its climax, the sell-out crowd have already filled every pocket of breathing space in the room. When Marriott belts out her anthemic rock closer “Control”, there’s a collective gasp and sigh as her pitch-perfect delivery leaves the room completely breathless.

Photo: Richard Bolwell

Fitting for such an intimate venue, Dan Patlansky then takes to the stage well ahead of schedule to set up his own gear. The early-comers are treated to the South African axeman riffing his way through every scale known to jazz and blues. By the time he’s done sound checking, he’s blasted out more solos than you’d see in most rock bands’ headline sets.

But then the stage lights fire up, and it’s time to get down to real business. Patlansky and his band launch into an instrumental opening, before belting out “Johnny,” the first track from new album Perfection Kills. “Hit ‘em high, hit ‘em low, hit ‘em hard,” screams Patlansky as he immediately summons the raspy demon in his larynx.

German keyboardist, Tom Gatza, acts as Patlansky’s foil for the evening, providing smooth undertones for Patlansky’s searing guitar solos before Gatza’s unleashes a solo of his own – complete with Elvis-style shaky legs and kung fu kicks. But before long, Patlansky declares, “It’s time for my favorite part of the night. It’s slow blues time” as he treats the crowd to his own interpretation of BB King’s “You Upset Me Baby.” Following up with the similarly understated original “Mayday,” the mournful ditty’s breathless breakdown brings the room to an eerie silence – a melancholy tribute to this venue’s beginnings as a home for the deaf. Patlansky backs off the mic, and barely touches his strings as he plays his guitar–it’s as if you’re at home with him in his South African lounge room, watching him play all by himself.

That’s until Patlansky leads his band into an energetic rendition of “Too Far Gone,” leaving the slow blues far behind with some heavily distorted shredding and wailing. Swinging on a dime, the band blitz their way through stompers like “Stop the Messin” and “Dog Day.” The on-stage chemistry between Patlansky and his bandmates – particularly bassist Jonathan Murphy – is clear for all to see, as the accomplished musicians sit back on the beat, careful never to eclipse the star of the show. Eventually, however, Patlansky lets each of them loose, with a full three-minute bass solo serving as the prelude to a drums-versus-keys face-off. The crowd howls with approval. It’s refreshing to see a backing band have so much fun with what they do. Patlansky then rightfully picks up the mantle as center of attention, ripping out some Jimi Hendrix and Tom Morello-style sonic manipulation. Holding his guitar high over his head, Patlansky turns up the feedback on his guitar pedals and whips out a two-minute-long solo without ever using his right hand, instead hammering the strings furiously with his left. It’s an endearing sight that confirms Patlansky’s status as one of Total Guitar’s “best guitarists in the world.”

The band leaves the stage to rapturous applause, before quickly returning for an encore of “Sonova Faith” and closing with another mesmerizing improvised jam. After tonight’s red hot show, the Manchester crowd will take warm memories of Patlansky’s performance with them into the frigid night air.

Dan Patlansky is currently on tour. See here for tour schedule.