Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation
Bristol Fiddler’s Club
22nd June, 2007

View: front of stage, by monitor

Playing for under 500, Plant took to the cramped stage for an atmospheric take on Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren, before picking up pace with Shine It All Around and Takamba. The Sensation lineup, with Justin Adams’ and Skin’s contrasting guitar styles, followed Zeppelin’s Friends with a ferocious Tin Pan Valley. A slowed-down 29 Palms saw lines from Come Into My Life thrown in at the end, and a surprise jug-band delivery of Misty Mountain Hop led into Four Sticks.

Two rarely-played selections from the backwaters of his solo catalogue followed, Plant glancing down at a lyric book to remind himself of the words. A punchy Nirvana, with Skin supplying a slashing riff and Plant playfully chorusing with ”Bedminster” (a nod to the locality) led into Slow Dancer and the home straight of Freedom Fries. Black Dog and the ever-dramatic Gallows Pole closed the main set, before Love’s intense Seven And Seven. The customary romp through Whole Lotta Love ended a charmingly loose show.

Reviewed by Dave Lewis
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