Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy at The Forum
Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy
Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
The Forum, 2 September 2010
Thinking back Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands I fell in love with. I remember waking up early before school just so I could listen to them in order to get my Zep fix for the day and sleeping under an enormous, almost wall-sized, poster of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that I had got free with some magazine. And, although I moved on to other bands, I actually never stopped loving the Zep so really, all these years on, I don't know why I had never seen Robert Plant live. Sure, like millions of others, I had applied for tickets for the one-off Led Zeppelin reunion but, as recently as 1998, I could have seen him play with Jimmy Page. But for whatever reasons, despite having seen him numerous times out and about in London, this was the first time I had ever attempted to see him in concert and fortunately for me it was a fairly small gig at the Forum in Kentish Town.
Plant has always shown an interest in roots-based music, as evidenced by Led Zeppelin's many folk-influenced forays but never has he indulged in this love as much as recently with the release of his hugely successful collaboration with country star Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, and now a new album produced by country legend Buddy Miller. For this new venture Plant has reprised the name of his pre-Zeppelin group Band Of Joy (of which Zep drummer John Bonham was also a member) but the new group is more like the Nashville all-stars and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw not only Miller join him on stage but also ace-guitarist Darrell Scott (who has worked with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Guy Clark in the past) and best of all, the amazing Patty Griffin. I've actually wanted to see Griffin live for years but she rarely reaches these shores on her own so what a treat to finally see her and hear that incredible voice of hers in unison with Plant's. So really, with that line-up and given my love of country music, I really couldn't have picked a better first Robert Plant show and glorious it was.
Starting with a slow-burning track from his solo album, Fate Of Nations, it then moved quickly into country rock fare, making the Zep's Misty Mountain Hop into a stomping, hoe-down with gorgeous harmony vocals from Griffin, a soaring, pleading version Please Read The Letter from Raising Sand, and a gospel-infused medley of Twelve Gates To The City, Wade In The Water and Zep's In My Time Of Dying, in which all three songs were mixed together in a surprisingly effective way. There were also some lovely covers in this same vein including the Richard Thompson song House Of Cards (who Plant called "one of Britain's best songwriters"), Townes Van Zandt's Harms Swift Way and the traditional Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (which I know best from the superb Uncle Tupelo version, but Plant's certainly matched it).
Despite being 62 years of age Plant's voice sounded fantastic, full and rich, although it was clear he couldn't hit those squealing high notes of his youth, it didn't really matter with the material he was performing and although on good form, perhaps revelling in the quality of his backing band, he wasn't afraid to move back and let them steal the spotlight for a while. Because of this we got Miller and Griffin both performing songs of their own and Scott singing a fantastic rendition of the old country standard Satisfied Mind, with Plant either supplying backing vocals or blistering harmonica and looking like he was enjoying it all the more watching his superb band in full swing.
Or course, while all these were tremendous fun, I won't lie to you, it was still a thrill when he broke out into a Led Zep number even when they were completely reworked to sound more in line with his recent countrified direction, particularly evident on a rather soulful sounding Over The Hills And Far Away, but Houses Of The Holy, Gallows Pole and Rock And Roll all sounded perfectly matched with this treatment.
Ending with a beautiful acappela version of the Grateful Dead's And We Bid You Goodnight, it was clear that not only was Plant having fun but he was at home in this new country-style sound and loving his more intimate connection with his clearly adoring audience in these smaller venues. No wonder he turned down that full-on Led Zep reunion. Although that would have been thrilling to see, there's no doubt this is more artistically fulfilling not only for him but for us too.
The support act was also interesting: a collaboration between a British guitarist named Justin Adams (who co-wrote Plant's last solo venture The Mighty Rearranger) and a Gambian musician called Juldeh Camara, who is something of a virtuoso on the one-stringed Ritti fiddle. The result was a strange but enticing mixture of African music and classic rock with a cool dub-style groove throughout. Apparently a lot of it was made up the night before or spontaneously jammed on the spot and it was fresh, energetic and fun throughout. Definitely one to catch live again in the future.
Plant has always shown an interest in roots-based music, as evidenced by Led Zeppelin's many folk-influenced forays but never has he indulged in this love as much as recently with the release of his hugely successful collaboration with country star Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, and now a new album produced by country legend Buddy Miller. For this new venture Plant has reprised the name of his pre-Zeppelin group Band Of Joy (of which Zep drummer John Bonham was also a member) but the new group is more like the Nashville all-stars and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw not only Miller join him on stage but also ace-guitarist Darrell Scott (who has worked with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Guy Clark in the past) and best of all, the amazing Patty Griffin. I've actually wanted to see Griffin live for years but she rarely reaches these shores on her own so what a treat to finally see her and hear that incredible voice of hers in unison with Plant's. So really, with that line-up and given my love of country music, I really couldn't have picked a better first Robert Plant show and glorious it was.
Starting with a slow-burning track from his solo album, Fate Of Nations, it then moved quickly into country rock fare, making the Zep's Misty Mountain Hop into a stomping, hoe-down with gorgeous harmony vocals from Griffin, a soaring, pleading version Please Read The Letter from Raising Sand, and a gospel-infused medley of Twelve Gates To The City, Wade In The Water and Zep's In My Time Of Dying, in which all three songs were mixed together in a surprisingly effective way. There were also some lovely covers in this same vein including the Richard Thompson song House Of Cards (who Plant called "one of Britain's best songwriters"), Townes Van Zandt's Harms Swift Way and the traditional Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (which I know best from the superb Uncle Tupelo version, but Plant's certainly matched it).
Or course, while all these were tremendous fun, I won't lie to you, it was still a thrill when he broke out into a Led Zep number even when they were completely reworked to sound more in line with his recent countrified direction, particularly evident on a rather soulful sounding Over The Hills And Far Away, but Houses Of The Holy, Gallows Pole and Rock And Roll all sounded perfectly matched with this treatment.
Ending with a beautiful acappela version of the Grateful Dead's And We Bid You Goodnight, it was clear that not only was Plant having fun but he was at home in this new country-style sound and loving his more intimate connection with his clearly adoring audience in these smaller venues. No wonder he turned down that full-on Led Zep reunion. Although that would have been thrilling to see, there's no doubt this is more artistically fulfilling not only for him but for us too.
The support act was also interesting: a collaboration between a British guitarist named Justin Adams (who co-wrote Plant's last solo venture The Mighty Rearranger) and a Gambian musician called Juldeh Camara, who is something of a virtuoso on the one-stringed Ritti fiddle. The result was a strange but enticing mixture of African music and classic rock with a cool dub-style groove throughout. Apparently a lot of it was made up the night before or spontaneously jammed on the spot and it was fresh, energetic and fun throughout. Definitely one to catch live again in the future.
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