WHAT’S an East End boy doing in a clearing in a Cheshire forest?

The answer, of course, is playing a sold out gig to more than 5,000 adoring fans.

The boy in question was rapper, hip hop and soul star Ben Drew, AKA Plan B, and while he may be more at home on the mean streets of London, his Forestry Commission Live Music event on Saturday brought a little bit of the urban scene to a pastoral location.

I’ve been an admirer of Plan B since his debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006.

I’m not a massive rap aficionada and his words speak of a world I know little about (lyrics about stabbing someone in the eye with a biro and having an accidental illicit liaison with a 14-year-old girl called Charmaine is a little out of my comfort zone).

But I found his work honest and atmospheric. There’s nothing phoney about Mr Drew.

But it was the breakthrough second album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks that really hit home. Sounding more like Motown’s Smokey Robinson than Smokey Robinson, Plan B roped in a whole raft of new admirers to his soulful, precise melodies.

I did wonder what demographic he would attract to his gig. Would it be angst-ridden teens or the middle aged mums remembering hot nights at the youth club disco.

Inevitably, we got both.

How then, was Plan B going to deal with this? His body of work appeals to two completely different audiences. The answer was simple – have two completely different shows in one.

The first half was very Strickland Banks. Ben was in his suit and produced, high energy, note perfect versions of most of the Strickland Banks tracks.

Then, after a brief interlude, he was back. Gone were the sharp suits and it all became very urban and underground. The highlight for me was a powerfully dark version of his new single Falling Down from the much anticipated Ill Manors album.

Interestingly, anyone signed up to Plan B’s fans’ email list was sent a free download of the track earlier in the week so he won’t be making much money out of that one And not to disappoint, he left the aforementioned Charmaine until late in the set.

But it was a triumphant return to alter ego Strickland Banks that sent the fans home happy with Stay Too Long closing the show.

Yes, a Plan B gig may be a bit schizophrenic but we all know what we were letting ourselves in for – didn’t we?