Review: Plan B, Dalby Forest (From York Press)

Review: Plan B, Dalby Forest

3:20pm Tuesday 3rd July 2012 in Music news and reviews

FOR those of you who missed out on a ticket for Plan B’s North Yorkshire woodland debut, his sold-out show was a class performance.

Even the dismal British “summertime” weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the 5,000 lucky enough to have been in the picturesque setting of Dalby Forest on Saturday night.

Ben Drew, aka Plan B, the talented British rapper and soul singer, was in fine form and clearly in the mood to showcase his talents to those braving the awful conditions.

The success of his second album, The Defamation Of Strickland Banks, had made me and many others keen to see him and his band perform, and it was a treat to hear him belt out his classy selection of songs, such as Stay Too Long, which managed to combine the urgency of Northern Soul with the giddiness of Drew’s breathless rap delivery.

It was a pleasure to be there to enjoy all the other amazing tracks from that album such as Welcome To Hell, Prayin and I Know A Song. You could see he was well up for What You Gonna Do and my personnal favourite, Hard Times; anyone operating in the world of pop would give their right arm for such songs.

This month Plan B will release his new album, iLL Manors, and Saturday was a chance to discover where the soul and rap music of one of the UK’s biggest pop stars is heading next – to the top again.

I can’t finish without mentioning the fantastic beat-box contribution of Killa Kel. Thanks to him and Plan B for a great night, despite the rotten weather.

Review by Gary Sullivan