Photo by Tiina Puska

Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy- October 16th, Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway

This report from Tiina Puska

Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara opened the evening. They were truly something special and I would really love to see them again. My husband , who is normally more into heavy metal, was thrilled by them.

Robert was in a great mood, relaxed, smiling and laughing and joking about the afternoon nap he took in his hotel room. I’m not sure if he stayed at the Grand Hotel, which is the best in Oslo (we heard that Lady Gaga was there, as she was performing in Oslo on Saturday as well). Grand Hotel was next to our hotel and we tried to spot Robert but unfortunately we didn’t.

The gig was fantastic, the band was on top form and Robert as well. I saw him in Stockholm with Alison Krauss 2008, and somehow I think that this gig was even better, and very different in many ways. Maybe one thing was that in Oslo there were no seats so we could dance like maniacs, we were on the second /third row, so we were pretty close to Robert. The highlight for me was Tangerine, I’ve always loved that song so much. And I’m sure he noticed my tears, because he looked at me when he sang couple of lines, that’s what I want to believe anyway! It was lovely to hear so many Zep songs now as he didn’t play many of them with Alison. And these new songs are absolutely great. It is so touching to see how Robert still loves to perform and how significantly happy he was as the audience really loved him and the band.
For me he seems somehow more relaxed now with these guys than with Alison, I don’t know if that is true but that’s how I felt. And by the way, his shirt was very well ironed!

All in all the whole evening was spectacular and I can’t wait to see him again.
These are fantastic and thrilling times for us Zep fans.
After the gig we went to a rock bar called Elm Street to have beer or five. It was actually an official after party and a Norweigian Zep tribute band Gentle Groove played Zep songs for couple of hours. Unlike many of the tribute bands, they did not try to look like Robert or Jimmy, but to sound like them, and actually they were very good.
One very important thing, when you go abroad for a gig, is to meet new and amazing people, huge Zep fans of course. This band still means so very much to so many of us.
We met two American guys, US army soldiers, friends, one based in the Netherlands and the other one in Germany. They were supposed to go to Brussels gig but it was cancelled so they took flights to Oslo. They both had seen Plant over ten times and one of them attended the O2 reunion concert. Great guys. They told us about Afganistan and Iraq and Somalia, they have seen and experienced pretty heavy stuff and lost a lot of friends.
Then we met a young couple from St. Petersburg, Russia, they were on the same flight from Oslo to Helsinki. They were on the first row and had taken fantastic pics (they showed them) and promised to send me some by email. We were back in Helsinki today at 10.30 pm and they still had to drive four or five  hours back to Russia. True fans!

Tiina Puska – October 17th 2010