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On a hot mid-May evening, in the near capacity basement venue of The Manchester Academy Club space, could there be any better environment in which to watch not only one of the finest Blues bands to have hailed from Britain in many a long year – King King – but also the man ranked #4 of the top ten Blues guitarists on the planet in South African maestro, Dan Patlansky?
As Patlansky strode onto the stage, memories of what it might have been like to have witnessed the cream of British talent that played at The Cavern Club in Liverpool all those years ago are quickly evoked as the man himself launched throatily into Run, the opening track from the new album Introvertigo, and so set the temperatures rising to near boiling point.
It isn’t just the lyricism that has come on leaps and bounds, though. It is the man’s control of his instrument that most astonishes. Those who have witnessed his previous performances, and for those who are new to Dan Patlansky’s music, take a look at how he delivers Sonnova Faith and Stop The Messin’ and witness just how far he has come since supporting Joe Satriani across Europe last year. Then watch his astonishingly brilliant guitar solo that closes this set and be ready to raise the roof.
So, with a brief hiatus, it is time for Glasgow’s own King King. With Alan Nimmo regaled in his customary kilt, the big man plucks his guitar from its stand and quite simply rips up the rule book from then on in. It might be the same set as that which was played on the first leg of the UK tour that took place earlier in the year but, in the close confines of The Manchester Academy Club, the music resonates ever more powerfully to the extent that the obvious joy that Nimmo and his cohorts derive from playing becomes an almost tangible, living thing.
Filled with emotion, crammed with exemplary musicianship and packed with pitch-perfect songs, if you don’t already have a ticket for this short tour then do yourselves a very big favour and get one ASAP and indulge yourself in some of the very finest Blues playing you will ever experience.
King King
Support: Dan Patlansky
Manchester Academy Club
May 12th, 2016
PR Rating: *****