Saw Saving Grace (Robert Plant's current band) last night.
It was a good show, glad I went!
Saving Grace has an album out, so half or more of the show was their songs. My description of their style is "English/Irish countryside folk with some modern add-ons."
I didn't catch the band members' names, but they were very good musicians. One dude sang backup (lead vocal on one song) and played banjo and guitar. The lead electric guitar player was very good, playing Telecasters with lots of effects, and he played mandolin as well. Most songs were sang as a duet with a female singer who also played accordion at times and a bass guitar at least once. There was a cellist who probably also played bass at times.
The show started with a long instrumental "mood setting" piece with lots of acoustic instruments played in kind of droning styles. The cellist played with a bow, for instance. The first few songs were unfamiliar, as I have not heard the Saving Grace album. It was all with banjo and my wife commented "it sounds like old Irish music." Robert was in good voice! He ended one of the first (maybe THE first?) song with a long, loud sustained note that showed the clarity and strength of his voice. It really struck me as operatic and impressed me that he sounded so good at 77 years old.
He played "Ramble On" as his first Zeppelin number. It started out as an acoustic arrangement that only hinted at what it was, and then morphed into the familiar intro. The crowd roared! I must say I was surprised at my emotional reaction to finally seeing Robert Plant sing a LZ song. As soon as I recognized the song, my heart leapt up into my throat and my eyes actually teared up a little. I didn't expect that, but that's why we go see shows live, eh?!!
The rest of the show was a mixture of SG songs, Zeppelin, Plant's solo songs and a few cherry picked covers.
The other two LZ songs were "Friends" and "Four Sticks." The arrangements on those were "boldly acoustic" (with some effect-laden lead guitar mixed in on one or the other.) His solo songs were "In the Mood" and something off of _Fate of Nations_ that I didn't immediately recognize, as that's like the one Plant solo album I never bought. They played a "very old.. pre-Led Zeppelin" blues song from the early 1900s (I'm chagrined I didn't catch the name) and a Moby Grape song that Robert introduced as a protest song against "the horrible administration this country had at the time." I guessed it was a swipe at the Vietnam conflict? The rest of his between songs spiel was mostly about the music itself.
Zeppelin is my favorite band, and if I could give up a body part to go back in time to see a LZ show (or even the Celebration Day reunion show) I would. (Depending on the body part required, of course...) It was a great experience... EXCEPT!
Damn, the crowd just SUCKED!! At least the ones around me. People getting up multiple times to go to the bathroom. People arriving late and not able to find their seats, and not able to resolve who was sitting in who's seat.. People holding their damn phones up to video the show. And worst of all, people all around me carrying on conversations during the show. I was close to blowing up. I looked back (the talkers were all a few rows behind me) a few times and glared. I would have said something but the worst offenders were a tatted up couple who seriously looked like they were on something. I didn't want to let a distraction to turn into a disaster. I let them be, and fortunately they left a little past halfway thru the show. There were so many people shouting out stupid (when decipherable) interjections from all over the room. "I love you Robert!" "Going to California!" etc. I can't decide if it was more offensive during a song, or while Robert was trying to talk to the crowd. Robert even made a semi-snide remark in response to one of them. It's not really a thin line between being into the show and giving positive feedback to a band versus being "that guy who thinks everything is all about them." We had an overabundance of the latter last night.
All in all, I'm so glad Robert came to San Antonio. I finally got to see a musical hero live for the first time and I saw that he's still in great voice and still creating! If the tour swings anywhere near you, I recommend it!
It was a good show, glad I went!
Saving Grace has an album out, so half or more of the show was their songs. My description of their style is "English/Irish countryside folk with some modern add-ons."
I didn't catch the band members' names, but they were very good musicians. One dude sang backup (lead vocal on one song) and played banjo and guitar. The lead electric guitar player was very good, playing Telecasters with lots of effects, and he played mandolin as well. Most songs were sang as a duet with a female singer who also played accordion at times and a bass guitar at least once. There was a cellist who probably also played bass at times.
The show started with a long instrumental "mood setting" piece with lots of acoustic instruments played in kind of droning styles. The cellist played with a bow, for instance. The first few songs were unfamiliar, as I have not heard the Saving Grace album. It was all with banjo and my wife commented "it sounds like old Irish music." Robert was in good voice! He ended one of the first (maybe THE first?) song with a long, loud sustained note that showed the clarity and strength of his voice. It really struck me as operatic and impressed me that he sounded so good at 77 years old.
He played "Ramble On" as his first Zeppelin number. It started out as an acoustic arrangement that only hinted at what it was, and then morphed into the familiar intro. The crowd roared! I must say I was surprised at my emotional reaction to finally seeing Robert Plant sing a LZ song. As soon as I recognized the song, my heart leapt up into my throat and my eyes actually teared up a little. I didn't expect that, but that's why we go see shows live, eh?!!
The rest of the show was a mixture of SG songs, Zeppelin, Plant's solo songs and a few cherry picked covers.
The other two LZ songs were "Friends" and "Four Sticks." The arrangements on those were "boldly acoustic" (with some effect-laden lead guitar mixed in on one or the other.) His solo songs were "In the Mood" and something off of _Fate of Nations_ that I didn't immediately recognize, as that's like the one Plant solo album I never bought. They played a "very old.. pre-Led Zeppelin" blues song from the early 1900s (I'm chagrined I didn't catch the name) and a Moby Grape song that Robert introduced as a protest song against "the horrible administration this country had at the time." I guessed it was a swipe at the Vietnam conflict? The rest of his between songs spiel was mostly about the music itself.
Zeppelin is my favorite band, and if I could give up a body part to go back in time to see a LZ show (or even the Celebration Day reunion show) I would. (Depending on the body part required, of course...) It was a great experience... EXCEPT!
Damn, the crowd just SUCKED!! At least the ones around me. People getting up multiple times to go to the bathroom. People arriving late and not able to find their seats, and not able to resolve who was sitting in who's seat.. People holding their damn phones up to video the show. And worst of all, people all around me carrying on conversations during the show. I was close to blowing up. I looked back (the talkers were all a few rows behind me) a few times and glared. I would have said something but the worst offenders were a tatted up couple who seriously looked like they were on something. I didn't want to let a distraction to turn into a disaster. I let them be, and fortunately they left a little past halfway thru the show. There were so many people shouting out stupid (when decipherable) interjections from all over the room. "I love you Robert!" "Going to California!" etc. I can't decide if it was more offensive during a song, or while Robert was trying to talk to the crowd. Robert even made a semi-snide remark in response to one of them. It's not really a thin line between being into the show and giving positive feedback to a band versus being "that guy who thinks everything is all about them." We had an overabundance of the latter last night.
All in all, I'm so glad Robert came to San Antonio. I finally got to see a musical hero live for the first time and I saw that he's still in great voice and still creating! If the tour swings anywhere near you, I recommend it!