Bywater Call & Dan Patlansky

Band on the Wall, Manchester - I’ve been watching bands for more years than I care to remember, and the excitement of going to a gig hasn’t diminished one bit. Some gigs, however, give me an extra tingle down my spine, and that’s the case tonight.

This will be the third time that I’ve seen Bywater Call. I started off in Blackpool, a couple of years ago, headed off into the countryside last year, when they ticked Leek off their bucket list (I’m sure it was on there), but this year they’ve moved things up a notch or two, and bigger venues are on the cards, so I’m off to Manchester and one of the best venues the city has to offer. Tonight, I’m at Band on the Wall.

The Copper Bar at BotW, (next to the main venue) had a healthy attendance on show  when I got there, with a good few dozen waiting for the main doors to open to the ‘big room’. It was good to see that the Christmas Spirit hadn’t taken over yet as well. I’m no bah humbug, by any stretch, but seeing Santa and Snowmen whilst we’re still in November can get irritating. What was good to see were two heavily laden Merch Tables set up with plenty of stocking fillers, so that live music can stay just that - ‘live’ - as half the time that’s how most bands make their money, especially Supports.

The stage looks rather crowded with gear and it’ll be good to see Bywater Call play at a venue where they have plenty of space to play with instead of sitting on each other’s shoulders. No disrespect to any other venues - they provide what they can - but Band on the Wall offers a good 40ft wide platform which should be a luxury for our seven-some.

There’s a Support tonight too, with someone who’s new to me. South African, Dan Patlansky will do the honours, before Torontos finest take over with every intention of rocking the life out of the place, which is usually what happens when Meghan and company hit the stage.

Let’s get started.

Dan Patlansky – We’re about half full by the time Patlansky takes to the stage, as Manchester has ventured through the drizzle to get there early doors. Patlansky ventures on stage, in the darkness and rather unnoticed by most, and politely waits with a well-worn black fender, that looks like it’s been around the block a few times, over his shoulder. With a guitar version of a polite cough, he strummed a few chords and the ambient tunes were dimmed and a very courteous round of applause rippled around the room. Manchester knows something does it not.

The opening tune passes in a blink of an eye and after acknowledging our applause, Patlansky suggests that we’ll have noticed that he’s on his own, without a band, but he has a loop station (al la Ed Sheeran) and informs us that you’re only one step away from disaster with these things. He starts the next tune ‘The City’ - which comes with a false start – so he wasn’t kidding about loop stations, and he has to start again. We chuckle at the irony. The response at the end is a good one though and it would appear that a good number of the crowd know exactly who Patlansky is and what he’s all about. He tells us that the track was taken from his CD ‘Shelter of Bones’, that’s funnily enough on sale here tonight. Gotta get a Merch plug in at every available opportunity !

“Dear Silence Thieves” is an album from 2011 and one of the tracks tells the story of a girl and he suggests that it’s the closest he’s ever got to a hit as it’s had a few views on YouTube. ‘Madison Lane’ is a slow song with the loop station putting in a fair share of the hard graft, but this is no bad thing and it’s a pleasant song all the same.

We’ve only had three tunes, but Patlansky says it’s time for the final track, called ‘Grandmas Hands’ and a quick look at the watch says that out Fella has been on stage for the best part of twenty-five minutes !

It may have been only four tracks with a good reliance on the loop but it was enjoyable and Manchester really appreciated it.

Dan Patlansky Setlist

(Unknown)

The City

Madison Lane

Grandma’s Hands

Bywater Call – Forty or so minutes later and the place has filled up quite nicely. It’s not sold out, but it’s comfortably full. Six stroll on stage, again in the darkness, but the sound guys are on the ball this time. They dim the ambient tunes and the band kick in with intention and we’re up and running. A few bars in and Ms. Parnell appears, grabs hold of the mike, with greater intention than the band and lets rip with the opening lines to ‘Hold Me Down’, which moves very quickly into ‘As If’, both rip-roaring tunes that leave you in no doubt where this night is going.

Catching those of us that have seen this band before off-guard - and it’s obvious from the response to the first two tunes that there are many – McCarthy starts to punch away at the kick with what sounds like the intro to ‘Holler’, but that doesn’t come this early in the set – or rather, it does now - and Barnes launches into an intro guitar solo, which is just heaven. ‘Holler’ is normally wrapped in with ‘Kashmir’, but not this time, as changes are happening. It’s good to hear it early mind and you start to wonder what else is in store.

Parnell thanks us for coming out and is proud to announce that they’ve doubled their audience since the last time they were in Manchester, at Academy 3, this time last year so it was an inspired decision by someone to book a bigger venue.

‘Colours’ and the anthemic ‘Sign of Peace’ follow with what seems like a load more keys included. Alan Zemaitis in on keys tonight, with no mention as to where John Kervin may be lurking, but his Russian made ivories are punching through like I’ve never heard before. More please.

‘Left Behind’ sees bassist Meusel venture out of the backstage darkness for a meaty bass solo, with Meg and the brass section taking their leave, before another almighty guitar solo took no punches, just before the rest of the band kicked in for the big finish.

Parnell tells us that they’re trying out a good few new tunes for us tonight and the next song was of absolute quality. ‘Clutter’ with a guitar that Barnes “insisted on dragging across the ocean”, according to Meghan, “so he’d better play it”. There’s a solid kick drum pulsing throughout with percussion and subtle brass interchanges by Dyte and Nalli softening it and lyrics that just leave you with a huge lump in your throat in the end. I thought this was the best track of the night, and much of Manchester agreed with me. Just wonderful.

‘Way to Go’ had a keyboard solo with the Russian affairs punching through again, and the acoustic that had been dragged across the pond, being put to good use of by Mr. Dyte.

Parnell says, “tonight we’re playing a bunch of stuff from all our past albums”, which is great to hear and leaves me wishing that I’d booked a ticket for more than the one gig as the setlist has changed on most nights from what I can see and it’s great to hear many of these songs played live. There’s still time for another new tune or two though and the new single, ‘Ain't No Friend of Mine’ kicks in before the last single ‘Sunshine’ gets some air time and with a chunky sax solo within a cool jazz interlude, before the drums and bass kick in and ‘heavy’ it up a bit.

‘Everybody Knows’ finishes off the set, or rather ‘Falls Away’ did as the encore, after we were given the option of making some suggestions and it was a much-requested call, along with ‘Sweet Maria’, which was missing completely, as were ‘Talking Backwards’, ‘Way I Am’ and ‘The Weight’ – but hey, times change and the new stuff was much appreciated – especially ‘Clutter’.

And with that, we were done and heading for the Manchester drizzle, which apparently hadn’t let up since we walked through it to get here a few hours earlier, but not before a quick visit to those Merch tables to see what Santa might have in store for us.

Until next year, then.

Bywater Call Setlist

Hold Me Down

As If

Arizona

Holler

Colours

Sign of Peace

Left Behind

Clutter

Way to Go

Ain't No Friend of Mine

Sunshine (Extended Version)

How Long

Everybody Knows

Encore:

Falls Away

Bywater Call are:

Meghan Parnell - vocals

Dave Barnes - guitar

Bruce McCarthy - drums

Mike Meusel - bass

Stephen Dyte - trumpet

Julian Nalli - tenor sax

Alan Zemaitis - keys

Bywater Call UK Tour November 2025

Weds 19 - London, The Garage

Thurs 20 - Southend, Chinnery’s

Fri 21 - Gloucester, Guildhall

Sat 22 - Newcastle, Anarchy Brew

Sun 23 - Glasgow, Oran Mor

Tues 25 - Leeds, Brudenell

Weds 26 - Manchester, Band on the Wall

Thurs 27 - Planet Rockstock 2025

Fri 28 - Southampton, The Brook

Sat 29 - Faversham, The Old Brewery Store

You can find more images of Bywater Call by clicking here...