Plan B, live review, Brixton Academy: A welcome reminder of what we’ve been missing

An intoxicating myriad of soul, rap, dubstep and pop mixed with angst-ridden melody and songwriting

The London artist returns after five years away from the public eye (Rex)

A grown up, polished and increasingly confident Benjamin Drew, otherwise known as Plan B, last week delivered nothing short of an emotively effervescent performance at Brixton Academy. Dressed in a tailored suit with slicked back blonde hair, a noticeably trimmer Plan B has matured not only in appearance but in performance too.

Emerging from a cloud of smoke amongst a carnival of light and lasers, Plan B’s arrival on stage was poetically metaphorical having been away from the public eye for the past five years.

Alongside the new appearance a new direction in music seems to be at play, with the first portion of the set focusing more on the soulful crooning end of the spectrum over rap with emphatic renditions of “Prayin’” and “Stranger” allowing the Londoner to demonstrate his impressive vocal repertoire.

A progressively energetic performance peaked and plateaued (in a good way) with arguably his biggest track “She Said” midway through the evening, allowing the celebratory atmosphere to continue long into the night.

On the eve of the launch of his new album Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose, his first studio album since 2012’s Ill Manors, the comeback continued with the set reverting back to tracks encompassing the passionate amped up rap that we grew accustomed to when Drew arrived on the scene in the late Noughties.

Closing the set with “Stay Too Long” from The Defamation of Strickland Banks, this performance; an intoxicating myriad of soul, rap, dubstep and pop mixed with the angst-ridden melody and songwriting, was a welcome reminder of what we’ve been missing.