Plan B, review: back right where he belongs

His creativity, talent and heartening authenticity haven’t changed
Man with a plan: Ben Drew
Matilda Egere-Cooper20 November 2017

A man of many talents, Plan B is also one of many guises — you’d have been forgiven at the Globe for hardly recognising Ben Drew of 2010’s The Defamation of Strickland Banks fame. But despite his remarkable transformation as a svelte, slick-haired crooner, his creativity, talent and heartening authenticity haven’t changed.

Flipping between fresh, poppy material from his forthcoming album and his grimy, bullish classics, the 33-year-old put on a fine spectacle that justified the choice of the open-air venue. During the political In the Name of Man, tiny toy soldiers with parachutes rained on the crowd. On another new cut, a section of the audience suddenly appeared in freaky masks. Moments later, Plan B joined that section on the second level, guitar in tow, for a stunning, acoustic performance of Love Goes Down.

It was a clever, artsy backdrop to his unique showmanship — mostly fervent and occasionally self-aware, which meant frequent sound problems resulted in songs starting over, to his frustration. But while a lesser artist might have struggled to recover, Plan B persisted to eventually bring his comeback show to a rapturous conclusion — a testament to a performer who might have disappeared for a bit but is back right where he belongs.

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