Led Zeppelin frontman brings Sensational Space Shifters to Bluestem
Opener Lillie Mae and her fiddle joined Plant for multiple songs.
The pants may be looser, the hair grayer but one thing is for sure, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant’s talent is still alive and well at 71 years old.
Plant and his band The Sensational Space Shifters entertained an enthusiastic crowd September 25 at the Bluestem Amphitheatre as temperatures dipped into the fifties.
Plant joked about the weather, saying he was told they were going to Mexico but instead felt like he ended up in the “misty mountains.”
The night started with opening act Lillie Mae, a folk act that is more familiar than many realize. Lillie Mae Rische is not only a member of the sibling Americana act, Jypsi, but she is also the session fiddle and mandolin for Jack White’s Third Man Records.
Rische’s sophomore album with Third Man “Other Girls” released August 16 of this year. During her set at the Bluestem, Rische played the title track “You’ve Got Other Girls For That”, as well as the fitting “Crisp & Cold”.
Songs such as “Honky Tonks and Taverns” from her debut “Forever and Then Some” were also played before ending on “Other Girls” track “Didn’t I.”
Those worried Plant’s set would only focus on his solo material were immediately relieved as the band launched into rollicking “When the Levee Breaks”.
In fact, a majority of the set was Led Zeppelin hits. Plant obviously knew what the audience wanted to hear, but made a point to innovate. The arrangements of the songs were expanded, giving the set a pleasing marriage of originality and familiarity.
The title track of his 2017 album “Carry Fire” was also performed, as well as Bukka White cover “Fixin’ to Die” and bluegrass song “Little Maggie”.
The concert left plenty of room for the musicians to shine as Plant gazed adoringly on. It was plain to see he is still making music for the right reasons. Plant’s passion for music was on full display.
Plant’s voice can’t reach the same screeching heights as it once did, forcing him at some points to drop an octave. That doesn’t mean his voice isn’t still magnificent. It’s dirty-bluesy tone still remains the same– powerful and striking.
Opening act Lillie Mae joined Plant on stage to lend her fiddle and vocals to multiple songs throughout the night.
After “What Is and What Should Never Be,” the audience immediately called for an encore, which was happily given after Plant grabbed a Modelo Negra from backstage.
As a parting gift, Plant sang Ersel Hickey’s “Bluebirds Over the Mountain” and Zeppelin’s “Ramble On”.
Between Plant’s humble demeanor and the Bluestem’s atmosphere, the whole evening felt like an out of body experience. Audience members left stunned, not believing their eyes, asking themselves, “Did I really just see a rock legend on a small Moorhead stage?”
From the time Plant first set foot on the stage to the moment he left, the audience remained standing and cheering, a refreshing anomaly for classic rock concerts.
The audience left Plant with a testament to his place in their lives and a show of appreciation. Plant left the audience with a warmth of gratitude and an experience hard to replicate.