Deadly Rhythm at Plan B
Where: Brixton, London
When: 18th December 2009
Risen from the ashes like a Pheonix from the flames Plan B is back on the prospering south London party map with a vengeance and Deadly Rhythm proves it.
After battling through the snow ridden streets we were greeted by the... er iconic sounds of Ikonika. She may have looked like a cold librarian, with specs and a Patagonian woolly hat, but don't let this fool you. The hat sat snugly over her ears, a fibrous but surprisingly insignificant barrier between her and the music. Her technical mixing ability wasn't hindered as she laid down a floor-filling array of dubstep, funky beats, techno tunes and cutting edge dance floor cuts. Each blended with the next to perfection, tactfully luring ravers from the funky to the soulful to the downright ravey. A minute number of purists were moaning they 'hadn't signed up for a house night,' but really who cares. Where's their sense of adventure? It's hardly Frankie Knuckles is it.
Next up the Tectonic head honcho himself, Pinch. Emblematic of his signature style he served up a selection of deep, subterranean dubplates and white labels that will hopefully be released on his own imprint.
As the crowd goose-stepped to Pinch's dark beats room two housed Manchester's 2step connoisseurs, Synkro b2b Indigo. There were at best ten people in the room and that could be including the bar staff. But unperturbed they soldiered on and the upstairs raving massive missed out on a heavy set which included their own uplifting, euphoric track Heaven.
Back up to the action where Bristol bred Joker was busy throwing out his grime saturated synth-warbling sound. MC Nomad kept the crowd going and gave the odd shout to 'the people who love pills.' Was it a call to the ladies when Joker played Benga-Girls – an underground form of lonely hearts listings? 'No bra, no panties', is this how he likes his women? Essentially naked - rather forward isn't he? To my enjoyment (and probably to Joker's dismay) there weren't too many flesh touters in the crowd, not a pair of wet-look leggings in sight.
My pondering over his penchant for panties soon vanished when he followed up with his own remix of Simian Mobile Disco's Cruel intentions - featuring the hearty vocals of the sublime Beth Ditto. An anthem greatly appreciated by the crowd.
Last to enter the building was Skream, bringing with him a diverse, entertaining and even educating set. To kick off he's on the mic telling everyone: “Let's start with sumink a little different.” And that's exactly what he did as he dropped an 80's vocal disco number that shocked some of those aforementioned die-hard dubsteppers. It was however fully accepted by the majority who were of the more open-minded party going sort.
His own jungle influenced Burning up had everyone leaping about like frogs suffering from ADHD and taking speed. His remixes of DJ Zinc's Killa sound, (featuring the gritty vocals of Nolay, formerly of the grime crew, Unorthodox Family) and Zomby's elating piano-laden Float went down like chips in the north of England. There were hands in the air in abundance when he rinsed The XX's too-perfect-for-words remix of You got the love. Night time from the album, XX, then brought a euphoric husky interlude. Expressions of wonderment quickly turned to contented smiles as the crowd let the vocals wash over them like a warm ocean.
If Deadly Rhythm is anything to go by Plan B is back in the game.
Words: Kerry-Ann Virgo
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