Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Plant gets back to roots

I've never been particularly star struck around celebrities.

Even as a kid, I wasn't too taken with the rich and famous, once passing up a chance to shake hands or snag an autograph from basketball great Michael Jordan.

One luminary who did turn me into something of a stalker for a day, however, was rocker Robert Plant.

The former Led Zeppelin frontman played a Friday night show in my hometown of Phoenix when I was in high school, and word had it he was staying through the weekend at an area hotel.

Being fairly obsessed with Zeppelin at the time (what red-blooded male isn't at age 17?), I headed to the Biltmore Resort with a friend, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall, cool one.

As it turned out, finding Plant wasn't too tough, thanks to a hotel maid who pinpointed his room for us. Picking the right time to make our move proved far trickier, as we followed the long-haired vocalist through the hallways, to the coffee shop where he ate lunch and on to the hotel pool where he took a dip.

Finally, we decided we could lurk no longer and successfully approached Plant poolside, spending a few minutes with our hero before leaving with autographed memorabilia in hands.

Some 15 years later, my Zeppelin fixation has cooled considerably. I still listen to the seminal British quartet now and again, but "Houses of the Holy" no longer occupies a permanent spot in my five-disc changer.

Still, no matter how many singers I hear, Plant still occupies a special place in my heart. I realized that all over again on Saturday night, when the 56-year-old Brit performed at the Las Vegas Hilton Center with new backing band Strange Sensation.

"Close the door/Put out the light." The first line from Zeppelin classic "No Quarter" opened the show, and Plant's familiar wail immediately sent chills down the collective spine of the 4,000 or so fans in attendance.

Some 25 years after Led Zeppelin's tale came to an end with the untimely death of drummer John Bonham, Plant remains one of rock 'n' roll's most easily identifiable voices, despite the hordes who have spent lifetimes trying to imitate him.

Plant sounded more vibrant and forceful than he did during a 2002 stopover at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, his most recent Vegas appearance. He no longer hits the high notes quite as sharply as he did in his prime, nor does he sustain his trademark howls and moans the way he once did, but his pipes remain a powerful instrument all the same.

The crowd reacted to every penetrating "Aaaaaaaaah!" from Plant's lips with whistles and applause, particularly when those moments occurred during Zeppelin tunes that comprised roughly half of the 100-minute set.

When he went to that legendary band's catalog, Plant usually presented the material in a new way, declining simply to trot out the familiar renditions guaranteed to please.

Sometimes, the approach worked, as with a sinister rendition of "When the Levee Breaks" that mixed a crunchy new heaviness with the 1971 version's essential blues components.

Other such attempts backfired. The beloved "Black Dog" brought fans out of their seats initially, but a remade main riff confounded far more than it inspired.

The (mostly) acoustic pairing of "That's the Way" and "Hey Hey What Can I Do" stayed mostly faithful to the originals, while "No Quarter" was an entirely new piece of music, with African tribal rhythms in place of atmospheric psychedelics.

The five-piece Strange Sensation worked "Gallows Pole" into a proper, foot-stomping hoedown, but failed to match Zeppelin's mighty thunder during the rocked-out portions of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You."

Successful or not, the Zeppelin numbers, not surprisingly, went over far better with the audience than the five songs he culled from May album "Mighty Rearranger."

Those cuts were also a mixed bag, ranging from the promising title cut -- a bluesy, jammed-out tune reminiscent of the Allman Brothers Band -- to the contrived "Tin Pan Valley," a metallic rocker set over a repeated, Linkin Park-esque electronic sample.

In recognition of his surroundings, Plant spoke of another rock 'n' roll icon, Elvis Presley, who played the Hilton (then known as the International) more than 600 times from 1969 to 1976.

"I came here in 1970 with Jimmy Page, and we sat in a red plastic booth watching the King." Plant said. "I'd like to dedicate my performance tonight to that night and what he did."

Plant has no doubt inspired the same sort of homage from countless other vocalists over the years, some of whom I'm probably quite fond of.

Just not fond enough to spend a day shadowing them, hoping for a brief encounter.

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