Robert Plant and Strange Sensation Rolled into the Motor City

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Robert Plant and Strange Sensation Rolled into the Motor City

By Pat De Corte

Robert Plant

Robert Plant - Photo by Kay McEntee

On Sunday, June 4th, the State Theatre in Detroit rocked with another
sold-out performance by the former Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant with his new band Strange Sensation. For those of you who are too young or old to remember, Robert Plant was just about the biggest rock star on the planet between 1969 with the first Led Zeppelin album release and 1980 when the band broke up after the death of drummer John Bonham.

Robert was in good form and the new five-member band (including ex-Cure guitarist Porl Thompson) gave it their all. Detroit was one of the six stops on the U. S. portion of the tour and with no pressure in promoting a new album, Plant focused on his personal favorites and a few reworked Zep tunes. His approach was not the high-profile performance of the Led Zeppelin days or even the 1998 incarnation with ex-Zeppelin band member Jimmy Page, but more of a melodic pop vein.

The show started promptly at 9:00PM and a quick two hours and three encores

later, Plant left his audience with another great performance straight from

the heart, and a profound experience to all that attended.   Plant, at 52,

still looked good with his shaggy hair, red silk poet's shirt and black

leather pants, not to mention his great voice.  Although somewhat mellowed

from his earlier rockin' days, this icon still had it in him to mesmerize

his loyal followers.  The Indian influence was obvious in his graceful

cat-like moves and animated gestures.

The show opener was "If I Ever Get Lucky" followed by the Greatful Dead's

"Morning Dew."  With the superb instrumental lead-in to the Zeppelin

classic, "In the Light" and the crowd still rocking, Plant continued his

repertoire with dialog about how it was spooky outside the windows "very

strange, so very, very strange must be the season."  And, with plenty of

light action, Donovan's original "Season of the Witch" began to reverberate

throughout the theatre.

He likened back to many memories - black silken memories of vinyl; deep,

lustrous black smooth vinyl of 1967 with the Moby Grape song about the

eternal triangle, "Sitting by the Window."  The stage intensified this

number with lots of light action and psychedelic images flashing on a rear

screen.  The place stomped.

The crowd seemed to like the uncertainty of not knowing what would be next.

Initially, it seemed to start slowly but Plant continued to get

progressively stronger throughout the evening.  The energy of the show was

infectious and with the familiar tunes, one note would bring the crowd to a

roar.  His interaction with the audience was good and Plant stopped several

times to accept flowers from avid fans.  Both he and the band seemed to

feed off this energy.  He seemed to appreciate the enthusiasm and fervor

the audience displayed throughout the performance.

The powerful set of "Hey Joe," Four Sticks" and "7 & 7" was intense and had

the crowd dancing.  While performing the original song of Love's "House is

Not a Motel," the video screen displayed symmetrical sand falling and

formations that contributed to the intrigue of the fantastic guitar solos.

The audience definitely knew its music - the band began to play another

Zeppelin number "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" and the crowd gave a rousing

ovation to end the main set.

There was some good guitar jamming and playing off one another (Justin

Adams and Porl Thompson) throughout the evening with extended treatment on

several numbers.  Porl has done a great job and knows Jimmy Page's guitar

leads well.  Clive Deamer with his drum and cymbal work was good but is

hard to beat Michael Lee.  John Baggot added many special effects on his

keyboards.  Charlie Jones (son-in-law of Plant) sounded great on his huge

double-bass guitar.  There is a lot of experience in this group.   Both

Baggot and Deamer were previously with Portishead while Adams was with

Sinéad O'Connor.  The band was solid and came off strong.  Plant seemed to

like this band and they may be with him for some time.

For the initial encore, Plant came back out with band and stated, "I am in

the mood.  I can feel the energy, the roots.  It's the environment and this

is a song written by a river."  They began to play "I'm In the Mood" and

segued into "Whole Lotta Love" with the crowd going wild.  Plant introduced

the second encore with comments referring to particularly obscure songs

around the world, about hospitality to young English boys, and launched

into "Misty Mountain Hop."

This brought the house down and everybody rockin' to this famous Led Zep

song.

For the third and final encore, Plant entered and sat down on a stool and

began to sing the heartfelt lyrics of the mellow psychedelic ballad "Song

from the Siren" which held the audience captive, but many still wanted

more.  They were entranced by his intensity.  It was a good evening, the

respectful crowd, the new venue, the tight band, the acoustics and most of

all, the resilient icon Robert Plant.

Word has it from his managers, "that future plans for Plant include a new

solo disc next year and he then may regroup with Jimmy Page after that."

Well, he is scheduled to play with Page (not since 1998) at the Montreux

Jazz festival in Switzerland on July 7th.

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