Plan B at the Prince Bandroom tonight and I’m running on… well nothing really, I’m barely able to keep my body upright after BDO on Sunday and Deftones the night before. But I’m here and genuinely excited about the upcoming show… underneath my jaded gaze I guess.
Fittingly I met a group of British ex-pats downstairs having a few drinks before the show and they were amazed that I even know who Plan B is, let alone that I have his previous album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words. So it shows just how much his stocks have risen since then that he’s now an international superstar and regular Video Hits guest (three times for three different reasons I’ve seen him being interviewed by Dylan Lewis, and I’m rarely awake in time to watch the show).
So anyway, I spot Paris Wells out the front with a pre-gig coffee, probably feeling as brilliant as I am at the time. Paris is a great support choice for Plan B.
Tonight Paris is playing a DJ’d set and it’s a bit flat, perhaps she really is feeling as bad as I am and it’s unfortunately showing/sounding. It’s a shame because I’ve seen her blast a crowd away full a full band and I feel this might have been a missed opportunity to tap Plan B’s fans and get herself a Video Hits spot from it.
Highlights were towards the end of the set with Fuck Your Soul (apparently about rappers ex who didn't like her), Jenny (new video coming out in a few weeks), and Let’s Get It Started (which Plan B asked her to do tonight). I'm certain she'll blow faces off at her upcoming slot at the St Kilda Festival though.
Before Plan B hits the stage he’s brought over a beatboxing collaborator to help kickstart his show. He does a quick, fun mash of tracks like Triple J hit Duck Sauce’s Barbara Streisand and Ginuwine’s Pony and the crowd roar as they recognise each track.
Hitting the stage with chart buster Writings On The Wall, Plan B has set the stage for a big night. Two guitarists strut the stage like the coolest cats in Chicago, bass and keys players remain stoic but ever-present, while the soulful back-up vocalists sway the groove. All look extremely dapper and hip in their faux-50s get-up.
All this but Plan B seems a bit stiff, concentrating on his vocal delivery that doesn’t come as natural as his rap jive. But only a hipster critic like me would notice this, and as the set progresses he becomes more comfortable and the crowd swoons as he rolls out his slew of hits with The Recluse, Love Goes Down, She Said, Stay Too Long and Prayin’.
After s short stint of stage the full band returns for a bit of karaoke time as they play a mash of Mo Town classics from Lean On Me and My Girl, to Stand By Me and Ain’t No Sunshine where with the latter two the beatboxer returns to lay a remix to the tracks.
To add to his already highly regarded reputation, Plan B shows support for countryman James Blake with a rendition of one of his lesser known tracks before erupting into Seal’s Kiss From A Rose to a riotous crowd. The band responds with everyone starting up a grunge-like moshpit as bodies fly and collapse all over the stage, sans guitar defecation.
All in all a top class show by a man at the top of his game.
-jon
Published at TheDwarf.com.au
Fittingly I met a group of British ex-pats downstairs having a few drinks before the show and they were amazed that I even know who Plan B is, let alone that I have his previous album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words. So it shows just how much his stocks have risen since then that he’s now an international superstar and regular Video Hits guest (three times for three different reasons I’ve seen him being interviewed by Dylan Lewis, and I’m rarely awake in time to watch the show).
So anyway, I spot Paris Wells out the front with a pre-gig coffee, probably feeling as brilliant as I am at the time. Paris is a great support choice for Plan B.
Tonight Paris is playing a DJ’d set and it’s a bit flat, perhaps she really is feeling as bad as I am and it’s unfortunately showing/sounding. It’s a shame because I’ve seen her blast a crowd away full a full band and I feel this might have been a missed opportunity to tap Plan B’s fans and get herself a Video Hits spot from it.
Highlights were towards the end of the set with Fuck Your Soul (apparently about rappers ex who didn't like her), Jenny (new video coming out in a few weeks), and Let’s Get It Started (which Plan B asked her to do tonight). I'm certain she'll blow faces off at her upcoming slot at the St Kilda Festival though.
Before Plan B hits the stage he’s brought over a beatboxing collaborator to help kickstart his show. He does a quick, fun mash of tracks like Triple J hit Duck Sauce’s Barbara Streisand and Ginuwine’s Pony and the crowd roar as they recognise each track.
Hitting the stage with chart buster Writings On The Wall, Plan B has set the stage for a big night. Two guitarists strut the stage like the coolest cats in Chicago, bass and keys players remain stoic but ever-present, while the soulful back-up vocalists sway the groove. All look extremely dapper and hip in their faux-50s get-up.
All this but Plan B seems a bit stiff, concentrating on his vocal delivery that doesn’t come as natural as his rap jive. But only a hipster critic like me would notice this, and as the set progresses he becomes more comfortable and the crowd swoons as he rolls out his slew of hits with The Recluse, Love Goes Down, She Said, Stay Too Long and Prayin’.
After s short stint of stage the full band returns for a bit of karaoke time as they play a mash of Mo Town classics from Lean On Me and My Girl, to Stand By Me and Ain’t No Sunshine where with the latter two the beatboxer returns to lay a remix to the tracks.
To add to his already highly regarded reputation, Plan B shows support for countryman James Blake with a rendition of one of his lesser known tracks before erupting into Seal’s Kiss From A Rose to a riotous crowd. The band responds with everyone starting up a grunge-like moshpit as bodies fly and collapse all over the stage, sans guitar defecation.
All in all a top class show by a man at the top of his game.
-jon
Published at TheDwarf.com.au
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