I was at the Town Hall because oddly, Robert Plant had decided to bring his Saving Grace band to Middlesbrough. As he joked mid gig. He thinks the last time he was in Boro was when he brought his then 7 year old daughter to Ayresome Park (I think a 1-0 win for Boro). It was a long overdue visit and it would have been wrong to go to a Hackney rather than to make the trip up to see him play at home.

Many know Plant as the rock behemoth from the 70s. While briefly preforming with Zeppelin for the O2 gig in 2007. He has moved on from Zeppelin and since the 90s constantly reinventing himself. Surrounding himself with talented musicians who are happy to explore Plant’s eclectic taste in music. Tonight reflected many of his musical journeys since then. The most obvious influence being Alison Krauss. With Saving Grace he has again decided to try his hand at duet. This time with Suzi Dian on vocals, Oli Jefferson on percussion and Matt Worley and Tony Kelsey or a range of stringed instruments. Unlike his tours with Alison and Patty Griffin that were influenced by country, tonight was more firmly rooted in the blues and folk side of Americana. Which I have to admit, I much preferred. 

On our ‘about us‘ page we say we don’t review covers bands. We prefer to limit this blog to new music. However, there is an exception, Robert Plant. If you have heard his recent stints on 6Music, you will know his wide knowledge of music dating back to early blues. He clearly has an immense love for the music of his youth and the music that influenced his early music career. But from early Zep days he has explored other sounds such the music of North Africa, India, experimented with pop in the 80s and even country with a stint living in Austin. He doesn’t so much cover songs, he reinvents them using all these musical influences. For me it is a glimpse into the magpie nature of bands in the 60s and 70s who took the music they were listening to and reinvented them. Tonight was a voyage into Plant’s musical journeys.

Oddly, except for a short refrain from Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘In My Time Of Dying’ that was reworked by Zeppelin. There were no Zeppelin songs. I think every other time I have seen him, he has featured reworked Zeppelin songs. While I am happy with this. I wonder if some in the audience were left disappointed, after all, it was the first time he has played Middlesbrough. Musically, this was closer to Sensational Spaceshifters than the country influenced Band of Joy. With songs like ‘Everybody’s Song’ taking on a North African feel and others more traditional blues or folk flavour. Personally, I am thankful the country twang was missing as I found it detracted from Band of Joy gigs.

Part of the joy tonight was Plant giving us his insights into each song with anecdotes about events and people in his past. Whether a quip about Paul Rogers or a story about Donovan selling him a knackered car. Like his recent radio show, it was a delightful insight into Plant’s life.

The other major part of why tonight was successful was Suzi Dian’s warm rich vocals that perfectly suited Plant’s. For me, this is the best paring so far. There also was genuine chemistry between the two and she was happy to poke fun at him when he started his story about Donavan on the wrong song.

There were some things I didn’t. Like. It was a seated gig and the old audience stayed seated throughout the evening. ‘Down at the Front’ was in row P with no photo pass. So this wasn’t a night for photos. The Middlesbrough audience were also more subdued than I would have expected. But these didn’t overly detract from the evening.

Tonight was about musical journeys. Mine, returning to where it all began and Plant taking us through music that influenced him. I love how comfortable Plant is with his music now. As he has matured, so has is music. This is how musicians should grown old. Leave the rocking to the youngsters and concentrate of your love for performing. A really nice evening and I am so pleased I made the trip home.

I have to admit, I don’t think Plant’s vocals are good on here. But that might be down to the mixing. But it doesn’t matter. Two of my favourite musicians on the same stage. If only this could become a regular occurrence…….

Tonight’s gig was a case in point. Other than forgetting the words of one song. Every song chosen and the way they were played, suited Plant’s fabulous voice. A voice which may not have the range of old, still has a lot of power but has gained a subtlety that he lacked in his heyday .

As with most Plant gigs, there was a mixture of new and older Zep material. With the Zep material reinterpreted with influences from Africa and suitable for his current voice.

The evening started slowly with Nugent and Belle as support. These two sang folky type music but I didn’t really think the music was too good.

Next up was the Last Internationale. These have a more traditional rock sound with a talented guitarist and a lead singer with a good rock voice. But again, there was nothing that gripped me. But I suspect in a small club these guys are great.

As expected, Robert was excellent. He really is growing old gracefully. He knows how to move forward while acknowledging the weight of the past, mixing Zeppelin classics but adapting them for his voice and current sound. The new material that initially thought was weak, such as Rainbows, instead allows him to showcase his richer more nuanced voice . Another excellent night from Robert Plant

Plant’s one of my favourite singers, from my favourite ever band. I love how he’s growing old gracefully. He may not necessarily write many new songs, but he chooses very talented individuals to put a new spin on classic tracks, including Zep tracks, drawing in influences from across the World.

His current band, the Sensational Space Shifters are in the main one of his previous bands, the Strange Sensation. All very talented musicians sharing Robert’s passion for blending different musical sources.

This gig wasn’t at ‘Glastonbury’, the festival, but Glastonbury Abbey as part of their summer concert series. So it had a odd feeling about it. Organisation was poor. The weirdest queue in the world snaked around the car park, long after the doors opened. I thought it meant that they were searching bags. But when I reached the front, there were no searches.

Locals were turning up with their chairs and picnics along with the old hippies and rockers. Other than a small section in front of the stage, everyone was sitting on their chairs. It just seemed an odd crowd. But then I guess if Plant’s old, his audience will be equally as old.

Continuing the strangeness were the two support acts. Really don’t know who chose them, but they really weren’t suited for that gig

First up was Wildflowers.

About the only thing to say is that they were simply just bland.

Talking about bland, George Ezra was next up.

And then he finished. Again bland.

With early doors I would have expected more bands. I would have also expected some effort being put into choosing appropriate support acts. But I guess it just meant I was more than ready for Plant

Playing a mixture of material from his new unreleased album, some classic Zep covers and old blues songs. Plant was excellent. Material I’d heard from the new album that I wasn’t sure about, live sounded great. His Zep covers continue to anchor him to the past but the way they’re now interpreted show the musical journey he’s been on since Zep and all were great.

A really great gig.

Tonight, without Patty Griffin in tow and playing at a blues festival, Robert was back to his blues Zep roots. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed (mostly) his trip into Americana and duets. But I wasn’t keen when it strayed into ‘country’ and seriously unimpressed whenever he’d give Patty the stage and would take a back seat. Tonight, with his Shape Shifters, a new iteration of his Strange Sensation band which brings in Juldeh Camara for a West African influence, Plant ripped through a combination of old blues numbers and some of his Zep back catalogue in a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Even the cost of the taxi back to Kings Cross failed to damp my enjoyment of the gig. I really hope he sticks to this formula.

Robert Plant

Robert Plant

I’d seen the ‘The Band of Joy’ in September. It was a very enjoyable gig but it suffered from my lack of familiarity with his new material, taking place before the album release. This time, having listened to the new album, there were no issues and I was ready for an enjoyable evening of music.

The gig was being record for broadcast on BBC radio and TV and Robert and his band seemed to enjoy the opportunity to play for a wider audience with a mix of new and old material.

Like with Alison, this night was a mixture of the good and bad. Whenever Plant was singing, everything everything was rooted in Country Blues. His rock voice always pulling it back to a sound I like. Unfortunately, there was more time given to the ensemble than I would have liked and at times the sound was pure country.

The material was mainly from their unreleased album along with some Zep classics and the material seemed much more intimate and appropriate for a small venue such as this one.

Like always, it was great to see Robert sing the music he wants to and overall it was a great gig.