PLAN B plus FAITH SFX and LIAM BAILEY

Friday March 4th 2011
PLAN B plus FAITH SFX and LIAM BAILEY
Empress Ballroom, Blackpool

This trip was a special treat for me and my fabulous friend Karen (whose own review is shown below)  We both had the day off work and once I had been to the dentist, had the car washed, filled up with petrol and packed the kids off to school, I tootled off to Bury to pick her up ... whilst listening to The Defamation of Strickland Banks on repeat of course.  We had a cuppa and some lunch at Karen's house and then headed off to Blackpool.

Once we got there my trusty Satnav took us right to the hotel but as the car park only had room for 2 cars, and was full, I had to park in the next street.  Mild panic ensued as there was no answer at our hotel, but we finally got inside and taken to our very compact and bijou room.

My favourite part was the wardrobe that actually turned out to be the bathroom.  Even with my short legs the only way I could sit on the loo was side on with my feet sticking out of the door.  It a good job we're such good friends!  Anyway the lady there was lovely and she did a fantastic full English breakfast, so it was all fine.

We had a couple of beers and then went to the prom ... or tried to.  Everything was fenced off and there were tram lanes dug up all over the place.  We did the only thing we could do and went into Harry Ramsden's for some tea ... fish, chips, peas and buttered bread ... and another beer.  Yum.  Then we went back to our room to get ready for our big night out.

We went into the Winter Gardens which has lots of rooms and is a very nice place, then we found a bar and had another beer.  Next door was the Empress Ballroom which is very beautiful, even in the dark, and was almost half full when we got in there.  We moved down the side and found a decent spot to stand.

First to come on was a young chap called Liam Bailey.  I hadn't heard of him before and neither had Karen, but we both loved his voice ... very soulful. 

In the interests of accuracy I have now Wikipedia'd him and he's from Nottingham and was discovered and signed by Amy Winehouse.  He also appeared on 'Blind Faith' by Chase and Status earlier this year.  We both liked him a lot.

Then came Faith SFX - our favourite beatboxer.  We saw him supporting Plan B last October and he was amazing.  He didn't do a full set this time but its probably just as well ... I think if he'd done his Transformers montage Karen might have fainted! 

There is no doubt what he can do with his mouth can take your breath away - its incredible.  In fact I can't even describe it - just watch this >>Faith SFX  He then introduced Plan B.

When Plan B appeared half of the audience almost collapsed including Karen and myself.  We had both seen him in October but he was definitely much more confident and more at ease with a big audience ... not surprising now he's a superstar.

We love him, completely.  We like the sound of his music, which makes us fans of his music, that's why Love Goes Down makes us lose it cos we can't separate the man from the music.  We're not obsessed though!

There's not really a lot to say about the gig itself - we spent the night staring at him on stage and singing along to all the tracks, which is possibly why I have no voice left now.  It's definitely one of my all time favourite evenings.

Didn't get any video myself as my own videographer wasn't with me, and didn't get any usable photos, but the memory will stay with me forever!  It didn't matter that Blackpool was in the middle of a major facelift ... it certainly needs one ... it was worth the mileage for a show like that.  The soul covers in the encore were brilliant - Kiss From A Rose, My Girl, I Got Sunshine, Tracks of My Tears - classics with a modern Plan B/Faith SFX twist.

Pure genius.

I asked Karen for a 3 word review and, as promised, here it is :
   "Fan bloody tastic".  Sums it up quite well I think.

So there you have it ... it may not be rock as such, but it rocked us!

My next gig is with the divine Aimee and we're at Nottingham's Rock City tomorrow evening seeing D.R.U.G.S - not an expert on them but if Aimee likes them I'm sure I will.

TTFN x