Robert Plant at Ottawa Jazz Festival

I am remiss for not posting on this earlier, but with the wedding and work and other things, plus having to fully absorb having seen ROBERT PLANT(!!) I didn't get to posting my thoughts until now, nearly 6 weeks later.

The concert was for the opening night of the Ottawa Jazz Festival, who made a good decision to have major headliners play in order to be able to afford lots of actual jazz artists for the rest of the time. Purists may complain, but if you bring lots of people (appx 11K for Plant) and they all pay $60 a pop, you've made some damn fine money to run your festival with.

This was actually Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, the newest band he has touring around, and this one is pretty shit hot. The album Band of Joy, has been in near constant rotation on the iPod since I got it, and it grows on me more and more with each play. But that's not the point here, other than to say, if you don't have it already, please please PLEASE check it out.

I went by myself, as my wife would have gone, but not at $60 a pop she said. That's OK, I managed to make it to the front of the crowd and be right against the railing just behind the "VIP seating" (3 rows of folding chairs for lame-o people). The crowd was quite a mix of people, some clearly Jazz Festival regulars who were nearly scornful of the crowd, while others had no idea what Jazz was, and just wanted to smoke another one to 'Whole Lotta Love' and expected Zeppelin songs. I myself wasn't expecting Zeppelin catalogue songs to make the setlist, but there was fierce debate amongst those in line while we were waiting to be granted admission to Confederation Park (a famous site for one touch football game preceding a wedding).

Let me also set the stage for the evening: winds blowing, Thunderstorm warning had been in effect all day, sky darkening in very frightening ways, opening band was decent if not just a little outclassed...Roadie comes out and puts the pot of steeping tea at the front for the Golden God...it was surreal for sure.

When they finally took stage, the cheers were overwhelming, and I'm sure some lost their voices at that point alone. To actually see the voice of Zeppelin that close was awesome in the most literal translation of the word...I felt awe and reverence. It was also very similar to the Dylan show I was at years ago, because he took the songs that made him famous and totally tweaked them to suit the new band, which made them almost brand new to listen to, and certainly more fun. It's so nice to see your Rock God heroes when they manage to stay relevant...

Then the show began:

1) Black Dog
2) Down to the Sea
3) Angel Dance
4) What is and What Should Never Be
5) House of Cards
6) Somewhere Trouble Don't Go (Buddy Miller lead vocals)
7) Monkey
8) A Satisfied Mind (Darrell Scott lead vocals)
9) Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
10) Ocean of Tears (Patty Griffin lead vocals)
11) Black Country Woman
12) In the Mood
13) Please Read the Letter
14) Misty Mountain Hop

ENCORE

1) Gallows Pole

So, of 15 songs, 1/3 were Zeppelin songs!
4 were from the Band of Joy album

Not too fucking shabby...

Black Dog was unfucking believable. I didn't think it was possible for a song to groove that hard and funky, especially when it was so well known in it's original form.
There was possibly no better way to open a show than with a hard grooving version of one of the great Led Zeppelin songs. It also did a good job of getting it out of the way early that, yes, in fact, I am Robert Plant, and I did have a job as a singer in a mildly successful band you may have heard of previously.
It also let the crowd know that this was no quaint backing country band here to sit by and let Plant sing a few old-tymey songs...this was a shit hot, tight rocking band with some serious chops.

Angel Dance was the lead single from the Band of Joy album, originally by Los Lobos, and quite frankly, one of Plant's best performances from the album and of the last 10 years. It's also a song that translates even better in person than on the album, where it's still fantastic.

What is and What Should Never Be was a great song for the funky rocking groove that it has, but also interesting to see how many people don't actually recognize Zeppelin unless it's on the radio. This was however, a great choice, and definitely had the crowd grooving hard along with them.

House of Cards was preceeded by an intro from Plant, who talked about how he got famous replaying old American songs, but now, he wanted to play some old English songs, and get people to know what great music came from his homeland. Then he got right into this, which is a spectacular track off of Band of Joy, originally by Richard Thompson.

At this point, Plant was quite happily introducing his co-band members, 3 of whom all got to take center stage, and each take lead on a song. The first was his co-band leader, Buddy Miller, who looks like a cross between Doc Brown from Back to the Future and a much less angry Van Morrison. He's also a damn fine guitarist; no Jimmy Page, but then again, no one is, however, he's a fantastic compliment to Plant as a singer, and can really play like a motherfucker when the time calls for it.

My favourite non-Plant vocal of the night however, went to sideman/multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott, a supremely talented player, who sang the classic A Satisfied Mind. It was supremely fantastic, absorbing, and spine-tinglingly soulful. It also needs to be said, the man can play lap guitar, pedal steel, banjo, and mandolin (all of which he did on this night).

The Final lead was from the supremely sexy Patty Griffin, who managed to hold her own next to Plant nearly the whole time, as they riffed off one another quite well. I'll be honest, it was nice to see a short dress and boots in a sea of middle-aged dudes.

During all three of these performances, Plant didn't leave stage, but merely slinked out of the spotlight, allowing each performer a chance to shine on their own without being in the shadow of his supreme awesomeness. He was also quite friendly and chatty with the crowd, one time even being interrputed by the band starting to play and realizing he'd been rambling on...(hehehe).

The other highlights of the show included:
Monkey originally by Low, which was a great inspired cover choice, and just as impressive on stage.

There was something eerie about the way the weather changed as Plant sang the refrain to Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down, accompanied by thunderous support (quite literally) from the weather gods themselves. Combined with the lightning it made for a terrifyingly impressive scene.

Misty Mountain Hop got everyone going crazy and singing along. (Let it be said, there were NO Hipsters at this show, thank fuck.) It was in the midst of this singing along that I thought to myself, this must be some sort of crazy dream, and proceeded to pinch myself hard, just to ensure it was real.

At this point, the drizzle which had been threatening us all night began, and as the song closed, and Plant thanked us so much, he and the band left the stage, and the screaming began. I can honestly say, I've never wanted someone to come back as much as I wanted Plant to. The Band of Joy is an apt name, as the sheer joy they deliver into their performance was palpable, and very real, making everyone have a great time, as I've very rarely seen a crowd that willing to dance and sing.

Finally, they made it back onto the stage, much to the delight of myself and thousands of others, and launched into a thundering, powerful, visceral performance of Gallows Pole. It was quite appropriate for the heavens to open at this point and the torrential rains poured as the thunder boomed and lighting flashed, while I was able to experience a truly EPIC performance by my favourite Rock Singer of all time, just so surreal I could hardly believe my luck. It really seemed like that last song went on forever, but it didn't. When it was done, the cheering continued until it was apparent the weather wasn't going to allow for any more show, and we all turned and walked away.
I can honestly say I'd never had any experience quite like this in my concert going lifetime, and I doubt I ever will again, but you can always hope...

On the overall scale, this has to be my greatest concert experience of all time, combine the setting, the weather, how close I was to the stage, with the legend I was seeing (who is still in FANTASTIC form I must say) singing the songs of the legendary band I grew up loving so much. So good. It is also important to note, that Robert Plant always gets a bad rap as being the guy who keeps Zeppelin from reuiniting for a real tour, but then again, he's also got a damn fine career of his own he's forged for himself by taking risks and exploring...You know full well Mick Jagger would never be this respected on his own.