Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek
SETLIST (from memory)
Black Dog
Down To The Sea
Angel Dance
Black Country Woman
House of Cards
Monkey
Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
That’s the Way
A Satisfied Mind
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Ocean Of Tears
In The Mood
Please Read the Letter
Houses of the Holy
Ramble On
Harm’s Swift Way
Gallow’s Pole
And We Bid You Goodnight
Robert and the band, as usual, sounded spot on. “Down to the Sea” and “Angel Dance” were both very dynamic and smoking hot. “That’s The Way” was gorgeous and gentle, and Darrell Scott’s pedal steel was a great touch. “Please Read The Letter” a-la Page/Plant in 1998, but also some touches of the Raising Sand version. A nice compromise. The crowd went crazy with the first notes of “Ramble On.” Not too many Plantisms, he just simply played a great show.
Review by David Higgins
The Band of Joy has somehow taken its game up to a whole new level since the great show I saw in Dallas last year. Robert’s vocal performance was the best I’ve heard from him in several years—and that’s a very high bar to clear!— ranging from the most tender passages to full-throttle
attack.
Robert has always been a joyful performer, of course, but he’s never seemed happier. He was clearly enjoying each musician’s performance. The many smiles he exchanged with everyone else on stage seemed to warm the chilly night under the open stars of the beautiful Greek Theater, which is nestled on the hillside of Griffith Park.
The selections from the Band of Joy album were largely unchanged and, once again, I marveled at how the band has stretched the live versions and added fresh dynamics. Once again, “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down” was a stunning highlight. Last time around, the band played Zep numbers such as “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Tangerine,” “Thank You,” and “Over the Hills and Far Away.” This time, the only two Zep songs that they repeated from last time were “Gallows Pole” and “Houses of the Holy.” Plant opened the show with “Black Dog” featuring a Buddy Miller guitar riff that reminded me of a droning didgeridoo and we were also treated to a straightforward arrangement of “Black Country Woman.” The surprise of the night was an exquisite “That’s the Way” which featured a delicate and heartfelt vocal from Robert with some lovely banjo and pedal steel guitar. (I think it’s the first time the latter been played on the tour.)
“Tall Cool One” had, sadly, been dropped from the set list which is too bad because their version was so good. But in its place was a terrific version of “In the Mood”—I had a huge smile on my face during that one. “Down to the Sea” and “Please Read the Letter” were better than ever. But the song of the night was “Ramble On.” The Band of Joy version closely patterns the original Zep version but, then, midway through it takes an unexpected ethereal turn. Darrell Scott played what appeared to be a Greek Lute as the song detoured into sublime prog-folk territory as Plant opened his pipes for a spine-tingling “OOOOOOOOOoooooooh”! During the show, Robert mentioned that the band has been writing songs during soundchecks and, given the inventiveness they displayed in concert, I cannot wait to hear the next studio album.
My 20th Robert Plant show since 1990 and it was so good that I’m going to Santa Barbara tonight for my 21st!
Reveiw by Stephen Humphries
I thought Plant was all about “evolving” away from Zep. He prevented the Zep reunion so why is he playing these lame versions of Zep masterpieces??
Jones is ROCKING!!!
Where have you gone Jimmy??
Black Country Communion ROCKS!!!
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