Robert Plant launched his new album ‘lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar’ with a show that also featured five classics by his old band Led Zeppelin at London’s Roundhouse as part of iTunes Festival on Monday (September 8).
Plant’s 85-minute set featured four songs from his forthcoming LP plus Zeppelin tracks ‘Thank You’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Going To California’, ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ and ’Whole Lotta Love’. The 12 song-set was rounded out with the title track of ‘No Quarter’ – the 1994 album Plant made with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page – plus ‘Fixin’ To Die Blues’ from his 2002 album ‘Dreamland’ and a cover of Willie Dixon’s blues standard ‘Spoonful’.
Dressed in paisley shirt and maroon trousers, Plant began the show with ‘Turn It Up’ from his new album before announcing: “Let’s see what happens now” and moving into ‘Thank You’ from ‘Led Zeppelin II’. The following ‘Spoonful’ was the first of several songs in which Plant played a handheld drum.
Plant was backed by The Sensational Space Shifters, his six-piece band who also feature on ‘lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar’. They include multi-instrumentalists Juldeh Camara and Justin Adams, guitarist Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson from Britpop band Cast, bassist Billy Fuller, drummer Dave Smith and Anna Calvi’s keyboardist John Baggott.
Introducing recent single ‘Rainbow’, Plant recalled how Led Zeppelin played their first London show at The Roundhouse in 1968. “Time really moves on,” said Plant. “It’s just short of 46 years since I first played here. I don’t like giving my age away like that. I’m not like Tom Jones, who loves telling people how old he is: ‘Really, Tom?’ I think that should be kept under your hat. Or under your helmet, at least… In the old days, this was what was known as ‘a single’.”
In a good mood throughout the show, Plant joked with the crowd for not singing along to the call-and-response vocals on an acoustic version of ‘Going To California’, which originally featured on ‘Led Zeppelin IV’. Gradually singing his parts louder as encouragement, Plant jokily shouted: “Fucking hell!” at the audience’s muted response. He then described new song ‘Pocketful Of Golden’ as: “This is the pensive side of us. It’s all pensive, really.”
Introducing ‘Fixin’ To Die Blues’, originally recorded in 1940 by blues musician Bukka White, Plant recalled how he was introduced to blues music after “hanging out with beatniks” as a teenager. He said: “I was lucky enough to see guys like Son House, John Estes and Sonny Boy Williamson when they came through Europe. They couldn’t believe the reception they got, as it was like they were being rediscovered. The guy who really did it for me was Bukka White – you can check him out on YouTube.” Seemingly referring to Led Zeppelin’s one-off reunion at London’s O2 in 2007, Plant added: “This is a song we’ll always play, until we split up and get back together again.”
Although the new songs were warmly received, the night’s biggest response was saved for ‘Whole Lotta Love’ from ‘Led Zeppelin II’, which brought fans in the seats on the balcony to their feet. It closed the main set, before a one-song encore of ‘Little Maggie’ from the new album, as fans clapped along enthusiastically.
Released on Sunday (September 7), ‘lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar’ is Plant’s tenth solo album since Led Zeppelin split in 1980 and will be accompanied by a 13-date UK and Ireland tour in November, including a return to The Roundhouse on November 12 and a homecoming show at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on November 21. Plant can be seen talking about the album in NME’s exclusive video interview below.
The show preceded the reissue of Led Zeppelin’s albums ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ and ‘Houses Of The Holy’ on October 27, each featuring a second disc of unreleased material.
iTunes Festival runs throughout September, with previous shows this month having included Beck and Calvin Harris. September 5 saw Kasabian play the whole of their self-titled debut album to mark its tenth anniversary. Remaining iTunes Festival gigs include Pharrell Williams, Elbow, SBTRKT, Jessie Ware, Ryan Adams and Placebo.
Robert Plant played:
‘Turn It Up’
‘Thank You’
‘Spoonful’
‘Black Dog’
‘Rainbow’
‘Going To California’
‘No Quarter’
‘Pocketful Of Golden’
‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’
‘Fixin’ To Die Blues’
‘Whole Lotta Love’
‘Little Maggie’
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