Robert Plant May 28, Brooklyn Bowl
If Robert Plant is, as many believe, the man blocking a Led Zeppelin reunion, it begs a question about Thursday night’s show at Brooklyn Bowl: Why were eight of the 14 songs he performed fully or partially drawn from that band’s catalog?
Personally, I’m not bothered by the possibility Zeppelin will never play again. I grew up believing the British foursome died with John Bonham, and found it odd when the three surviving members resurrected the name for a 2007 one-off. But as I watched Plant sing “Black Dog” and “Going to California,” I couldn’t help wondering how much grander it all could have been with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones beside him.
Even as it was, Plant’s first Vegas tour stop in 10 years felt electric, made so mostly by the man’s famous pipes. Fans (and nonfans) have quibbled since the ’70s about the enduring strength of his vocals, but on this night, there was no debate: The 66-year-old Plant sounded better than he did at House of Blues in 2002 or the Hilton in '05, soaring over his six-piece backing band, the Sensational Shape Shifters, without showing signs of strain.
Some new arrangements helped with that. "Black Dog" slowed down some and turned tribal, with Juldeh Camara jamming on a single-stringed African riti and Plant pointing to the crowd for help with the “ah, ah” section of the chorus; “Dazed and Confused” careened into pseudo-Celtic territory; and an encore version of “Rock and Roll” featured a droney, almost-industrial reworking. Other oldies were presented as-is, however, like a powerful “What Is and What Should Never Be” and a sublime acoustic “Going to California.”
Plant seemed a bit annoyed by the oldish audience, chiding the “average Vegas crowd” for not getting louder (the hall went particularly silent during four songs off 2014 solo record Lullaby and … the Ceaseless Roar) and imploring fans to “put your phones down and watch” (some did, others kept right on shooting photos and video). Plant also paid homage to blues greats like Howlin’ Wolf and Bukka White, and mentioned two local legends, Elvis Presley and B.B. King, the latter of whom died this month. Thursday night’s headliner is no less a luminary in my mind, and witnessing him perform in a room as intimate and crisp-sounding as Brooklyn Bowl was a treat. Good luck scoring a ticket so easily if Led Zeppelin ever gets back together.
