If I Ever Get Lucky, Celebration Day, Morning Dew, Ship of Fools, Going to Ca., Calling to You, Fixin’ to Die, Four Sticks, Tall Cool One, BIGLY. encore: Song to the Siren.

This from Paul Lukasik
Well, this was not the same man who completely blew us away last week at the Hammerstein. I regret to say that I was disappointed by this performance. Plant seemed very mellow,restrained,and was full of many rambling”Plantations” that only he seems to understand. He was wearing a white shirt, white pants, and white tennis shoes and came out about 7:40 with the usual no introduction and slow walk to the mike as the song builds. If I ever Get Lucky started with “Thats Allright Mama” intros. It still seems that the band cannot workout the intro of Celebration Day as it always seems on the verge of a mistake. Morning Dew I thought was surprisingly well received. Ship of Fools was a nice addition but the crowd seemed to ignore it.Going to Ca. finally woke up the crowd and earned Mr.Plant his first standing ovation of the evening! Calling to You was tight but uneventful. Fixin’ to die did not go over well at all as some people around me started shouting for the Who. Four Sticks was great but did not receive the reaction I thought it would. Tall cool one& BIGLY closed out the set and again he received another standing ovation.
Plant left the stage and when it seemed he was not coming back there were many boos’ heard; but then he came back out to thunderous applause. Everyone was expecting WLL because Plant started talking about “classic songs” but then he implored the audience to “listen” to the next number and called it a “good night kiss” and proceeded to do Song to the Siren. This one was really trying peoples patience as it left the crowd on a low note. It was obvious that this was a pro-Who crowd that only wanted to hear the Zep tunes. Even I was shocked by the subdued performance by Plant. His voice was weak and he did not seem inspired at all.
Last week I was floored by his vocal command and ability and all of the energy and tonight was the complete opposite. I was pulling for him so hard but alas he did not come through. Every Zep tune woke up the crowd and then they died just as quickly when the new material was played. I was shocked that he did not perform “Darkness” and “Hey Joe” as I think those numbers would have been much better received. This was a crowd that was into nostalgia and sadly did not seem into his performance. It was a letdown for opening night at the Garden and hopefully Plant will tweek the setlist a little for the remaining 3 shows in NYC. The Who were fantastic and I dont think anyone remembered Plant after the show; but at least I have my memories of last week at the Hammerstein where those in attendance witnessed the “hammer of the gods” on a magical night. I’ll let you know how the 8/3 show compares in a few days.

M Russo writes:
I was lucky enough to see Robert Plant at the Hammerstein on Wednesday and last night in the Garden. Even though the Hammerstein was a better viewing venue, the sound was superb at MSG. There was almost a full house by 7:30
when he started. He did an excellent job and the crowd was definetly happy to see him. After 7 songs, he ended and the crowd went wild cheering him back on stage. The lights went on as if he was done and the crowd booed. He
then walked back on and announced he was going to play a beautiful song which was a”prelude to a finale” He then played Song to the Siren and ended on that which was great, but strange because of his prior statement. No grand
finale like he announced and I even got a copy of last night’s set list from sound guys which included WLL, but he did not play it. I can’t wait to see him again tonight.