Sept. 24--Robert Plant spent 90 minutes Wednesday at Northerly Island proving again why his refusal to reunite with Led Zeppelin remains sagacious despite the promise of big money. Backed by a superb band, the Sensational Space Shifters, the singer approached the wildly diverse concert like a restless radio operator with hundreds of stations at his disposal. He and his mates regularly changed frequencies and dialed into music from multiple continents. Intrigued at how all the pieces might fit, Plant and company connected the dots among outwardly disparate styles without once sounding forced or stiff.
Aside from the lines across his face and gray in his facial hair, the iconic frontman never let his 67-year age show. While his range doesn't reach the regions it hit during Zeppelin's heyday, Plant was in tremendous voice and up for adventure. He even unleashed a few signature wails and cries, demonstrating he can still draw on reserve lung power when needed. Yet Plant seemed more interested in exploring subtleties, playing with textures and exercising restraint. The approach heightened the mysticism of familiar favorites and conveyed a curiosity manifested in the group's blend of Welsh, African, Appalachian and Southern strains.
Singing in pliable, honeyed tones that traced the sensual curves and cosmic contours of the songs, Plant mixed styles and updated traditions. Save for a stripped-down "The Rain Song," each Zeppelin number performed featured reconfigured architecture and surprising twists. "Trampled Under Foot" welcomed funkier passages that wouldn't have been out of place on a disco floor. "Black Dog" teased with a slower tempo before slithering to a viscous groove. "Rock and Roll" jumped and jived to bagpipelike melodies provided by Gambian instrumentalist Juldeh Camara's ritti (a one-string violin).
In the same way the band's fresh takes on Zeppelin tunes rescued them from languishing as abused classic-rock staples on FM airwaves, overhauled renditions of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" -- complete with keyboardist John Baggott's haunting electronic twitter -- and Bukka White's "Fixin' to Die" reveled in the kind of exotic tension long absent from downtown's tourist-minded blues clubs. Plant and Co. had no time for any such nostalgia or convention.
But even as the musicians navigated unmapped territories in which deep drones, polyrhythmic beats and country reels intersected, they honored their roots. Plant thanked local institutions Chess, Delmark and Vee-Jay Records as well as gospel greats the Staple Singers for influencing him. For the vocalist, who dubbed the evening a "benediction of spirit and soul," the acknowledgments brought everything -- including his tour, which ended here -- full circle.
Bob Gendron is a freelance critic.
ctc-arts@tribune.com
