Robert Plant gives old songs new life
By Scott McLennan
Globe Correspondent
July 26, 2013We’ve heard from the Stones and a Beatle already this summer, and on Thursday, Robert Plant continued the invasion of vintage Brits.
Yet playing with his latest ensemble, the Sensational Shape Shifters, Plant hardly seemed tethered to the past, even as his show at the Bank of America Pavilion was heavy on material from his days in Led Zeppelin. And when Plant went back to Zep, he went way back, focusing on songs from that band’s first four albums.
Yet with the Shape Shifters, Plant found fresh ways into the classics, such as having “Whole Lotta Love” erupt from a swampy blues, or whipping “Four Sticks” into a world beat frenzy with the aid of Gambian Shape Shifter Juldeh Camara, who played a variety of African instruments during the set.
Plant also reached back in his catalog of solo albums. A sleek “In the Mood,” for example, followed the thunder of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” that opened the concert.
Plant was strong in voice through the 90-minute set and remains an easygoing, yet captivating front man.
He made a few jokes at the expense of Journey and the Rolling Stones, and told a few tales, particularly when introducing classic blues numbers such as “Spoonful” and “Fixin’ to Die.”
But for the most part he simply fell into the music, which he guided through acoustic ballads — “Going to California” being the gem — and techno-flourished tunes, such as the sinister-sounding “Tin Pan Valley.”
The band stretched out on songs such as “The Enchanter” and “Another Tribe,” bringing to life deeper tracks from Plant’s catalog.
But the show peaked with a clutch of Zep tunes toward the end. There, Plant captured and connected the cosmic swirl that links his past to his present.
The rearranged “Whole Lotta Love” and a finale of “Rock and Roll” likewise satisfied the crowd but let Plant remain an inventive artist.
Phosphorescent opened the show with a nice set of sprawling, cinematic tunes.
Scott McLennan can be reached at smclennan1010@gmail.com
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