Robert Plant Live at Cain's Ba

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REVIEW BY: JEFF

Probably not your typical "Heavy Metal" fare for KNAC.COM, but a living legend by anybody’s standards. Plant did a show in the historic Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 11th. As expected, he sold out the small intimate venue in 21 minutes, so tickets were hard to come by (scored mine on Ebay). As a 32-year-old lifelong fan of Zeppelin, I was not going to miss seeing Plant in such a small venue.

The doors opened to a mob of middle-aged adults with some teenagers in tow for a jockey in front of the stage at this GA show. Myself, I am a big enough guy I just pushed my way to front and center with little problem. Opening act was some no-name band that sounded like a cross between The Doors and The Who. But they warmed up the crowd, which was what they were supposed to do.

Then, the main attraction, Plant, two guitarists, keyboards, and a drummer. Plant looked to be in excellent health, very fit from obvious gym time. Vocally I was shocked that he sounded so good, though it was obvious he sang to his strengths and stayed within his range. Didn't keep track of the whole set list, but he played mostly newer solo stuff, with about 4-5 Zeppelin faves tweaked for his solo band. It was actually cool -- he played the Zep songs more like they were fresh interpretations out of respect for the original, than anything else. The highlight was definitely an acoustic version of “When the Levee Breaks.”

The 1:20 set closed with one encore of “Whole Lotta Love,” which totally rocked and brought the house down. Plant appeared to be humble, gracious, and enjoying himself. Overall, it was an excellent show. Only thing I was hoping for was some autographs after the show since the theater was so small, but oh well, can't have everything.