It was a night of comeback, feedback and a dozen Guinness jokes. Upcoming LA artist Kenan Bell - and his slightly drunk band - rocked the intro. For imagery, picture Maxwell with a Gym Class Heroes swagga. For sound, I'd say indie rock meets back-packer Hip-hop. They even grabbed a crowd member on stage to play keys on their last song. Pretty cool.

Place: Cargo, North London
Hosts: Ras Kwame & Twin B (1Xtra)
Headliners: Ms Dynamite/Natty/Laura Izibor/Wretch32

A lil' "futuristic pop" next from thecocknbullkid to warm up a slowly thawing Monday crowd. Definitely less bite than when I first saw them bussin' it up on Jools Holland last month, but i doubt this will harm their '09 progression.

First of the headliners, Wretch 32, kicked off his set with a heartfelt accapella to get the crowd engaged. Downtempo track 'All that I need', from his BIG debut album 'Wretchrospective' (out now) took an intimate journey thru his past relationship sagas. It touched me - put it that way. (yeah i said it!)

Welcome to the stage girl group Fee-nix. Vocals aside, they scored pretty high in the entertainment factor, with energetic dance routine and tasty outfits.

LAURA IZIBOR & BAND BRING THE FIRE 

Irish soul singer Laura Izibor took the show to a truly superior level. I swear she looks better every time! On point vocals, on-point band and a soulful set had the crowd begging for more. Her influence filtered through to the hosts as Ras and Twin B couldn't help but drop in a few Guinness punch jokes throughout the night.

Atlantic Records continued to dominate the evening as Natty brought seeerious roots energy, delivering a convincing performance featuring tracks from his current debut album 'Man like I'.

Then the lady who really needs no introduction. Fresh from covering on the 1Xtra breakfast show and back with a brand new EP, Ms Dynamite stepped up to shut shit down.

MS DYNAMITE SETS IT OFF FOR THE FINALE

After performing 'Ms Dynamitee', she admitted she absolutely hates that song. I can see why. Her new material is a lot harder, raw. So raw infact, I was waiting for Mavado to step on stage during a couple of her numbers. But instead, ever-energetic Bashy came on to spit a 16 about the shambles that was last Saturday's UMAs, following which, a visibly emotional (and nervous) Dynamite took time out to explain where she's been, claiming her mother role to 5-year old son Shavaar and deep soul-searching were the key reasons.

Then, the old skool track everyone was waiting for came at full force. With the band retired for the moment, up steps Faith SFX to beatbox Dynamites' signature underground track 'Boo'. They smashed it.

Kenan Bell | www.myspace.com/theblackkenanbell
Laura Izibor | www.myspace.com/lauraizibor
Thecocknbullkid | www.myspace.com/thecocknbullkid
Wretch 32 | www.myspace.com/wretchclart
Ms Dynamite | www.myspace.com/msdynamiteuk
Natty | www.myspace.com/natty4d
Bashy | www.myspace.com/bashystar

words by R (myspace.com/alreadyknew)