Robert Plant and The Band Of Joy – Sony Centre, Toronto
Set List
Cindy, I’ll Marry You Someday
Angel Dance
Down to the Sea
Rich Woman
House of Cards
Love Throw a Line
Please Read the Letter
A Satisfied Mind
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
Tangerine
Twelve Gates to the City/Wade in The Water/In My Time of Dying
Houses of the Holy
You Can’t Buy My Love
Tall Cool One
Ramble On
Gallows Pole
Silver Rider
Rock and Roll
I Bid You Goodnight
The first of two Band Of Joy shows in Toronto received a favourable review from the Toronto Sun
Sony Centre, Toronto Review (Toronto Sun)
If Rod Stewart has put out what seems to be an endless string of The Great American Songbook series, what’s to stop Robert Plant from following suit with a bevy of eclectic covers touching on Delta blues, Appalachian roots and toe-tapping Americana?
Well, perhaps nothing.
Following his surprising success with Alison Krauss on 2007’s Raising Sand album, Plant returned to Toronto Saturday night at the sold-out Sony Centre for the Performing Arts behind last year’s Band Of Joy, a record which seems a bit comfier for Plant and his stellar cast of alt-country musicians to pull off.
Throughout the course of the 20-song set, the 62-year-old Plant often looked at singer/guitarist Patty Griffin, guitarist Buddy Miller and multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott and repeated the word “yeah” off microphone, sensing it was going to be what he called “another scintillating evening” from the opening notes of the opener Cindy, I’ll Marry You Someday.
For the most part he was correct, especially on slower, groove-riddled numbers like Angel Dance with Scott on mandolin as Plant accidentally split his cup of tea.
“I’m always prematurely spilling my tea,” he quipped prior to Down To The Sea.
While Miller, Griffin and Scott shone when taking the lead vocal on Trouble, Love Throw A Line and A Satisfied Mind respectively, Plant seemed to enjoy and excel in these still new musical waters on numbers like the fine Please Read The Letter and the winding, deliberate rendition of Richard Thompson’s House Of Cards.
And Plant also managed to deftly saunter through material from his Led Zeppelin period by reworking and retooling many of those numbers. This was especially true of Ramble On and Houses Of The Holy, the latter with the Jimmy Page hook still audible but surrounded by a sweet, roots-y feel that got a standing ovation from many.
Also going over just as nicely was a Sun Studios-era rockabilly romp through Rock And Roll with drummer Marco Giovino finishing with the same drum intro the late John Bonham did on the original
It was obvious from the beginning fans wanted their Zeppelin fix, but like his choice to opt out of a reunion tour following the widely praised one-off 2007 London show, Plant does what he wants. Yet this didn’t stop him from acknowledging the past, referring to the venue by its old name the O’Keefe Centre and stating he knew some people quite well who played two shows there back on Nov. 2, 1969.
As for miscues, there were a few, particularly when Plant’s “last hit” Tall Cool One came across at best as average while Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down took a while to heat up as Plant belted out the concluding lines.
After a crawling version of Gallows Pole – far different from the original foot-stomper – Plant and company returned for a short encore that ended with all six doing an a cappella version of And We Bid You Goodnight.
Overall, it was a very good night indeed.
By JASON MacNEIL | Special To QMI Agency
www.toronto sun.com
Robert Plant Ramble On / Gallows Pole Sony Centre Toronto
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Here’s another review of the first (Saturday) show in Toronto:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/over-the-hills-and-far-away-robert-plant-moves-on/article1880798/
For those keeping track, here is the set list for Saturday, January 22:
Cindy, I’ll Marry You Someday
Angel Dance
Down to the Sea
Rich Woman
House of Cards
Love Throw a Line
Please Read the Letter
A Satisfied Mind
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
Tangerine
Twelve Gates to the City/Wade in The Water/In My Time of Dying
Houses of the Holy
You Can’t Buy My Love
Tall Cool One
Ramble On
Gallows Pole
Silver Rider
Rock and Roll
I Bid You Goodnight
and for Sunday, January 23 (also at the Sony Centre, Toronto):
Cindy, I’ll Marry You Someday
Angel Dance
Down to the Sea
House of Cards
Rich Woman
Love Throw a Line
Misty Mountain Hop
A Satisfied Mind
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
Twelve Gates to the City/Wade in The Water/In My Time of Dying
Houses of the Holy
Tall Cool One
Ramble On
Gallows Pole
Monkey
Rock and Roll
I Bid You Goodnight
Michael
Sounds a great trip out with Robert maintaining the high standard of last year.
Dave, I made it to the show Saturday. Great show. My wife couldn’t make it so I took a lady friend from work (just friends really) and she loved it too. Her mom had just passed away over the holidays and she really needed the break from everything. It’s a great wife you have when you can get away with not only taking another female, not just to a show, not just out-of-state, but actually to another country to see Robert Plant. And my beloved never even met her. Aside from getting a parking ticket for having my parking pass displayed upside down (ahh the innocent mistakes in life) and a longer drive home due to the weather, an overall great day.
Some people complained because they did not see “Zeppelin” but I thought it was an incredible show. There were certain aspects of the Raising Sand shows (saw 2 of them) that I liked better, but anytime I get to See RP I’m not complaining. The band was tight. Patty Griffin is a real babe, great singer and talented. Darryl Scott is a force, I need to check out his new solo album. Buddy Miller – always great. Real good rythym section.
I’ve seen Robert 11 times now (10 tours) and while each tour has been somewhat different, I have never been disappointed. It was a thrill when he first started his solo career, when he started to incorporate some Zeppelin material, with Jimmy, Strange Sensation, Raising Sand, BOJ. The thrills never stop.
At dinner, saw 2 guys who had Ahmet T-shirts in the Atlantic Records logo. Said I thought it was a cool shirt and found out they went to O2. So we talked a bit about that. I tried to get tickets, but of course that didn’t happen.
Looking forward to Zep Fest now.
Tangerine was certainly a fave. They opened with Cindy, I’ll Marry You Some Time. When I was a kid we use to sing that song (somewhat different verses you learn in grade school) but it always liked the old folk/cowboy songs (not be be confused with Country & Western, which as most educated fold know is not really music at all – just kidding).
Loved Down To the Sea. Silver Rider was excellent, would have liked to have hear Monkey. The sound system was excellent. Same venue I saw Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. This is the old O’Keefe Center that Zeppelin played in back in ’69.
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