Picture by Ian Avey
The evening was opened by Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara doing … well I’m not sure how or even if it should be described, but it becomes kinda groovy after a while – an almost-endless succession of bluesy riffs overlain with homemade banjos and fiddles (Justin Adams description, not mine!) African vocals, and a wonderfully infectious piece where everyone was just playing percussion.
With the arrival of the Band of Joy onstage, the evening becomes the same voice but a different artist. This is so different from the …

Picture by Ian Avey
I have to admit that whilst I was looking forward to this, I was equally apprehensive, because to be honest Raising Sand, whilst good, wasn’t perhaps quite as good as the media made out at the time. I’ve always thought it slightly ironic that the best track on the CD was an old(ish) Page and Plant song!
 On the other hand however Band of Joy is an excellent album, to my ears considerably better and more varied than Raising Sand, and this gig too was a delight. A lovely intimate …

ROBERT PLANT & THE BAND OF JOY – ROUNDHOUSE LONDON – BBC RADIO 2 ELECTRIC PROMS OCTOBER 29th 2010: ”VERY NICE TO BE BACK HERE”
Set List:
Down To The Sea/ Angel Dance/ House Of Cards/ Please Read The Letter/ Misty Mountain Hop/  Somewhere Trouble/ Satisfied Mind/ Move Up/ Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down/ Tangerine/ Central 209/ Monkey/ Houses Of The Holy/ You Cant Buy Me Love/ Tall Cool One/ Gallows Pole/ Harms Swift Way/ Rock And Roll/ I Twelve Gates medley/ Bid You Goodnight
As millions would have heard last night …

All photos by Gary Foy/TBL
A LIFE AFFIRMING OCCASION
Set List:
Down To The Sea/ Angel Dance/ House Of Cards/ Please Read The Letter/ Misty Mountain Hop/ Twelve Gates/ Tangerine/ Somewhere Trouble/ Satisfied Mind/ Move Up/ Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down/ Central 209/ Monkey/ Houses Of The Holy/ You Cant Buy Me Love/ Tall Cool One/ Gallows Pole/ Harms Swift Way/ Rock And Roll/ I Bid You Goodnight
Following a well received set by Justin Adams  and Juldeh Camara, Robert Plant with The Band Of Joy took to the stage for a triumphant …

 
To set the scene for this week’s UK gigs – here’s a round up of recent Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy You Tube clips
Robert Plant & Band Of Joy Down To The Sea Liverpool Olympia Theatre 21st Oct 2010

Robert Plant Band of Joy The Sage Newcastle uk 2010 Monkey

ROBERT PLANT Tangerine live 23.10.2010 Avo Session Basel HD

Robert Plant – Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down (Live @ Usher Hall 18th Oct 2010)

Robert Plant & Band Of Joy Gallows Poll Liverpool Olympia Theatre 21st Oct 2010

Robert Plant & Band …

Photo by Steve Way
The Guardian.co.uk Music Blog web site is running a week long series of exclusive videos taken from last month’s Robert Plant Band Of Joy London HMV Forum gig. It commences today with the Low cover Monkey.
Visit   http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/oct/25/robert-plant-band-joy

Photo by Rick Willis
As we move into what will be a couple of very high profile weeks for Robert Plant, It’s a timely moment for me to reflect on the 100 + nights I have spent in the company of Robert Plant on vocals.
It was about a year back when I was researching something for the magazine that I realised I must be approaching 100 occasions of staring up at a Shure SM57 or 58 microphone held by Robert Plant. I’d collated a list about ten years back which I …

Photo by Kryz Jantzen
Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy
October 24th
Palais des Sports
Paris, France
The Setlist
Down To The Sea/ Angel Dance/ House Of Cards/ Please Read The Letter/ Misty Mountain Hop/ Twelve Gates/ Tangerine/ Somewhere Trouble/ Satisfied Mind/ Move Up/ Satan/ Central 209/ Monkey/ Houses Of The Holy/ You Cant Buy Me Love/ Tall Cool One/ Gallows Pole/ Harms Swift Way/ RnR/ Goodnight
With tickets also to Birmingham and London in the next few days, this week three  shows kick off with a great night in France, catching Robert on …

 
Gary and I plan to be in attendance at the Robert Plant Band Of Joy shows in Birmingham and London. Here are details of the TBL pre gig meet pubs:
For the Birmingham Symphony Hall gig on Wednesday October 27th
We will be meeting in the The Brasshouse, 44 Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2HP,  from around 5.00 pm. The Brasshouse is minutes away from the venue.

For the London Roundhouse gig on Friday October 29th we will be meeting in the The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill, Camden, London, NW3 2BL. 1 minute walk from Chalk …

Picture by Ian Avey
It was the first time I’ve seen (solo) Robert since December 2005, when
he played at Wolverhampton with the Strange Sensations.
At Liverpool he sang flawlessly and seemed to have so much more control
over his voice than when I have seen him live on previous occasions.
The whole band worked really well together and complemented each other.
The solo spots when Robert took a back seat were also a real surprise,
and worked really well.
I can’t remember the entire set list, but it was mostly the same as the
Paris show. ‘Satan your …