Narc. Magazine Online
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Damian Robinson sees a rock legend moving comfortably ever further into otherworldly and spiritual musical realms
Image by Damian Robinson
Taking yet another left turn, the recent release from Robert Plant, Saving Grace, saw the hard rock legend move further out of his comfort zone into a deeper, more folky, earthier, character. If anything, Saving Grace reminded us that Plant’s interest was always in the connection between musical textures and the power of the human voice; combining both to create otherworldly, spiritual, experiences.
Led by the exceptional multi-instrumentalist Matt Worley, Plant’s collective tonight sparkle in a set reminiscent of mid-90’s MTV Unplugged textures where acoustic sounds create space for rich, natural, vocals. Standouts include covers of traditional folk songs (The Cuckoo), covers of classics (Moby Grape’s It’s a Beautiful Day Today) and covers of Zeppelin classics (Ramble On) – each one combining fine musicality with natural, accessible, vocals from Plant, Worley and vocalist Suzi Dian a trio that builds into a spectacular collectives in places.
A few asides about the Mayfair, and a fast quip about Noah, demonstrate that while Plant is still very capable of being the focal point of the evening his physical presence (spending a lot of tonight both ‘in front’ and ‘to the side’) demonstrates that the most important element tonight is the collective sound – rather than his individual stature. Fantastic.
