Hot on the heels of his latest release Carry Fire, Robert Plant and his band, the Sensational Space Shifters, once again performed in Boston on February 15th to a sold-out Orpheum Theater. Plant’s set included several new songs from Carry Fire, selections from his solo career’s back catalog, cover songs from his influences and yes, golden nuggets from his tenure with Led Zeppelin. Plant was in exceptionally-fine form and clearly enjoyed his evening with his band – all while the mighty Zep and their fans are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
The iconic Robert Plant descended upon the Orpheum’s stage – embraced by an immediate standing ovation. He and his band smiled and responded to the adulation with “New World” – a seductive opener. “Turn It Up”, from Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar followed before diving into another new track from Fire. “The May Queen”, with its eclectic instrumentation serenaded one and all to get the night started.
Highlights from the performance included, “That’s The Way” – one of Zeppelin’s most sublime and sensitive. “Please Read The Letter”, a track written with Jimmy Page and made more commercially successful with its version recorded for Raising Sand, the award-winning collaboration between Plant and bluegrass/country artist Alison Krauss – was beautiful and equally hypnotizing. “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”, another cover, was impressive as it provided a little taste of another song that the night’s Zep fans were thirsting for.
“Little Maggie”, for which Plant jokingly reminisced by saying, “I bought the record the day it came out – in 1929.” was a fun homage to his earlier influences. This cover was so wildly different from the original, yet it maintained a respectful foundation that ultimately served as a platform for the Space Shifters to create a new, cosmically-altered piece of art. “Misty Mountain Hop” was almost unrecognizable without Page’s Les Paul and Marshall stack-driven riffs. However, with Plant and Co.’s current spin, it was truly a joy-ride of eclecticism. As the song meandered from one realm to another, the band looked as if they were playing as one and completely in-tune with one another. “Hop” wrapped up the first set, priming the Orpheum’s guests for an orgasmic encore.
Plant’s solo hit, “I’m In The Mood”, from his second solo studio album, The Principle of Moments, set the encore off. “Mood”, which received a warm welcome -brought a sense of calm and togetherness throughout. Always evolving, this rendition of the 80’s ballad had a more upbeat tempo caught somewhere between the original and way he performed it just a few years ago on the Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar tour. After a round of applause, the audience was graced with the opening riff to “Bring It On Home”. Anyone who had been sitting, sprang out of their seats to groove to the Zep barnburner. It was just the beginning of a sizzling medley that transitioned to “Whole Lotta Love”, “Santy Anno” and back to “Love” to bring the sensational performance to a euphoric close.
