Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Sunday March 31, 2013 :
Tonight’s performance was all about transformation. Robert Plant has taken the Led Zeppelin legacy which has been a heavy burden for the man in the past, embraced it, reworked it, and delivered interpretations that were totally satisfying. With the Sensational Space Shifters providing electro flushes, psychedelic wash, and Middle Eastern strings and percussion, songs such as ‘Black Dog’ were never going to sound like Zepp.
Opening with ‘Tin Pan Valley’ from the Mighty ReArranger solo album, it took all of two minutes before the brutal force of the Space Shifters to kick in and the Plant wail to emerge. ‘Another Tribe’ from the same album came next, and it gave us an insight into the acoustic Middle Eastern flourishes that would be on display throughout the evening. ‘Friends’ was the first Zeppelin track to drop, and it is was a faithful interpretation of the original warmly welcomed by the crowd.
From this point on, it was all Zeppelin apart from a handful of songs. ‘Going to California’ and ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’ were also faithful to the original Zeppelin recordings, but the real highlights were when cuts like ‘Black Dog’, ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Rock and Roll’ emerged with brand new clothing.
‘Black Dog’ had the bare minimum original melody lines, and was unfamiliar until the lyrics cut in. It was dark, percussive, and as forceful as the version we are all familiar with. ‘Heartbreaker’ was for this reviewer the highlight of the show. It was a new version entirely with electro tones, guitar distortion and throbbing rhythms. Quite masterful in its execution.
Closing the main set with a pulled apart and reassembled ‘Whole Lotta Love’, the band returned for an encore of ‘Bron Y Aur Stomp’ and ‘Rock and Roll’ with it’s dark bottom end and electro pulse. It was 90 minutes of Zeppelin glory but not as we know it. Plant has taken his legacy, and repurposed it into versions that hold true to his current musical leanings. It was an honour to witness.
Reviewer and photographer: Kevin Bull
[nggallery id=46]
Great review of a great show. I think Plant was disappointed by the lack of noise from the crowd but given the small number of people in that cavernous room there wasn’t much we could do. I’m guessing there was less than 3000 people there. Maybe a lot less. I’m pretty sure we could have all fit in the Civic Theatre where we could have made some real noise. Because he and his band deserved it.