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Robert Plant and the Strange Attraction

Created by dave. Last edited by dave, 18 years and 195 days ago. Viewed 4,206 times. #4
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Robert Plant and The Strange Attraction

(10 September 2005, The Corel Center)

Opening Act: The Trews

What can be said about The Trews? I'd never heard of them before the show; clearly they are young, enthusiastic up-and-comers. They suffered the problems that all opening acts I've ever seen suffer from: bad mix, heavy distortion, and music which all sounds the same.

At one point the lead singer tried to encourage the crowd, saying "you can do better!" My immediate reaction was so can you, buddy. Unfortunately they did a piano-led piece from the new album which was so horribly mixed that it was a disaster.

They played a 30 minute set, and I think the crowd was polite to them, considering who they were really out to see. I'd say about 30% of the crowd didn't even bother to show up for the opening act. Personally I didn't care for them too much, and since I hadn't heard of them ahead of time, it would not have been the end of my world if we'd missed them.

Main Event: Robert Plant and The Strange Attraction

The stage was at the far end of the arena, with chairs arranged on the floor. Not that people on the floor used the chairs, they stood for the entire 90 minute show. I sat about center ice in the stands on the left side. My view was partially obstructed when people next to me or in front of me stood up.

Personally I'm not too much for the classic Zeplin. I like some of Robert Plant's later stuff, although much of that is heavilly studio produced that I wondered how well it would translate to the live stage.

Fortunately for me neither problem became an issue as

  • the old Zeplin stuff was re-arranged so much it was practically unrecognizable
  • the current album was done with The Strange Attraction so they knew how to play the music
  • the stuff in between wasn't really touched on
The music was well done, although it degraded into the proto-typical Jimmy Page screaming-distorted-feedback guitar more often and for longer than I might have liked. The new single, Shine It On, is well done in the studio, but tended to get a bit wild in person. The other track they played from the new album, Tin Can something, came off as trying a bit too hard and harkened back to the bad old days.

As for the man himself, I thought Plant delivered a strong and entertaining show whatever you might have thought about the music; even I as a not-so-strong fan came away thinking I'd had a good time.

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