Robert Plant, Riviera Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

A Thursday night at the Riviera Theatre was another opportunity for me to cross a music legend off my bucket list. This time, it would be former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. We arrived at the venue before the opening act took the stage, securing a spot towards the back of the lowest section. By the time Robert Plant started, this section was extremely crowded. It’s a bit of an annoying aspect of the Riviera. Unlike some other venues, the views and sound from the back of the theatre are vastly inferior to those closest to the stage. Therefore, everyone does whatever they can to get as close as possible. Among the crowd, we noticed many older people in attendance, uncommon for a general admission club show. I was a bit surprised that Robert Plant was playing the Riviera at all. He could have easily played a larger, seated venue like the Chicago Theater. We also noticed that there were many parent/child couples around us.

Robert Plant plays accompanied by his afro-psychedelic-blues band, the Sensational Shape Shifters, which he put together about two years ago. Plant and his new band are fresh off the release of their first collective album, lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar (2014). The band includes five musicians in addition to Plant, consisting of members of another of his former bands, the Strange Sensation. The band played various stringed and percussion instruments, including a ritti player, the one string African fiddle I recently noticed on stage with Vieux Farka Touré at the Chicago World Music Festival last month. Plant himself didn't play an instrument but gave his band plenty of space to jam and show of their own talents. The band’s sound has a distinctly African influence but also incorporates the blend of rock, folk, and blues that Plant has been cultivating over the previous decade.

The evening’s setlist included about half Led Zeppelin songs and half Plant’s solo songs, plus a few covers. Naturally, the audience was most excited when he played Zeppelin. While getting to hear live versions of classic Zeppelin songs was the highlight, I also enjoyed selections from the new album, especially his closing on “Little Maggie,” a drastic rearrangement of a Stanley Brothers bluegrass song.

Setlist:
No Quarter [Led Zeppelin song]
Poor Howard
Ramble On [Led Zeppelin song]
Turn It Up
Arbaden (Maggie's Babby)
Rainbow
Going to California [Led Zeppelin song]
A Stolen Kiss
What Is and What Should Never Be [Led Zeppelin song]
How Many More Years [Howlin’ Wolf cover]
Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You [Joan Baez cover]
Fixin' to Die [Bukka White cover]
I Just Want to Make Love to You / Whole Lotta Love / Who Do You Love
Encore:
Nobody's Fault but Mine [Blind Willie Johnson cover]
Little Maggie