Review: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss at Harrah's Cherokee Center — Asheville
Throughout my concert-going life, I’ve seen plenty of memorable shows but haven’t felt as fortunate to experience a performance as I did on June 27, seated a mere 11 rows away from Robert Plant at Harrah’s Cherokee Center — Asheville.
Back in town with Alison Krauss after an illness postponed their original May 9 show a handful of hours before the gig, the legendary vocalist cast a spell over the assembled Led Zeppelin faithful, who likewise acted grateful to be in the presence of a 74-year-old icon who can still put on an entertaining night of music.
Reminiscing about his former manager telling him back in 1968 to never apologize for anything onstage, Plant eschewed that advice and offered a sincere note of remorse for “being late,” words that received one of the night’s numerous raucous cheers. And though there’s little doubt that he, Krauss, and their top-notch band ever turn in a lazy performance, there remained a sense that the ensemble put a little extra something into the evening’s offerings as a form of atonement and their own form of gratitude.
In particular, the trio of Zeppelin covers — “Rock and Roll,” “The Battle of Evermore,” and “When the Levee Breaks” — and the duo’s Grammy-winning take on the Plant/Jimmy Page song “Please Read the Letter” felt like special treats, even if they’ve been on practically every setlist from the current Raising the Roof tour. Regardless, the legends’ honey-tinged harmonies over thrilling Americana instrumentation begs the question of whether music fans have truly lived until they’ve heard these classics performed in such a distinct manner.
If those selections weren’t magical enough, each of the handful of Zeppelin vocal wails that Plant seemed to conjure from the distant past elicited goosebumps, as if us lucky gathered few had been transported back with him to a time when such sounds were the norm.
Moving through these picks from Plant’s catalog and the cream of the two Plant/Krauss albums, the event’s first half leaned on frequent electric guitar solos from the magnificent JD McPherson, who pulled double duty as opening act with his own rip-roaring band. But the back half gave way to more laid-back instrumentation, featuring extended takes from other players on acoustic guitar and mandolin, plus some impressive fiddle work by Krauss.
The bow action proved nearly the extent of the co-headliner’s movement — her static nature and disinterest in banter so familiar to the group that, as the set wound down and Plant introduced his talented accomplices, he referred to Krauss as a “silent comedian” who lets him be the one to make a fool of himself by talking too much. But in the same speech, he acknowledged her as the spark that’s kept him dedicated to music in his golden years, hinting that without her initiative, none of what we saw before us would be possible.
For the rare opportunity to see such an assemblage of musical royalty up close and personal, and for the pleasures that her collaborations with Plant have produced over the past 15-plus years, Krauss indeed deserves our deepest thanks. And she can stay as motionless on stage as she damn well pleases — simply witnessing Plant cut a quick dance move is enough activity to feel like a dream has come true.
(Photos by Bryce Lafoon)
