Plant at Hammerstein Ballroom

["John C" <blackcountryman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Unfortunately I was too tired, hung over, and busy at work to write a proper 
review of the show while it was still fresh in my mind, so I'll just have to 
rely on my impressions two days later.
A standard setlist seems to be developing (what a surprise!).  They opened 
with "If I Ever Get Lucky" which, while a good song, is (I think) a little 
mellow to use as an opener.  Of course, that may be the whole idea - to set 
a mood.  Then again, the crowd is in such a frenzy when they first see Plant 
they would probably go just as apeshit if he were to do a gregorian chant.
"Funny In My Mind" was next.  I love this song, and I think he should open 
with it.  And it should have been the single.  The band really explodes with 
it live, paticularly the drummer.  Very energetic.
I wish I would have wrote down the setlist.  Hmmm... no "Morning Dew" 
tonight - maybe "A Hotel is not a Home" (or whatever the actual name of the 
song is) took its place.  "Tall Cool One" was a different, more lively 
arrangement than that of the VH1 special.  There were still no Zep samples 
(other than some Hey-Hey-Mama's by Bob), but it was faster, and more, I 
dunno, Grr-hrrr-hrrr.  "Calling to You" was well done, and sounds different 
without all the synths.  I listened carefully - no "Oh Jimmy"s.
"Hey Joe" was one of the highlights;  it reminds me very much of "Exit" as 
done on the Joshua Tree tour, to this day the single most thrilling 
non-Zep-related concert song I have experienced.  Very dramatic.  And you 
can tell not many people in the audience have Dreamland;  they seemed blown 
away when they recognized the tune in the beginning.
Oh yeah, he played some of that Zeppelin stuff, too.  "Four Sticks" was the 
first Zep tune, and was very well-received.  Sounded pretty much like the 
other versions we've heard.  "Going to California" was very well done.  At 
this point I really have to stress what great voice Robert is in these days. 
  This was a very strong, clear run-through of the song, with nary a crack 
or drop in octave as we had become used to.  There was, of course, "Whole 
Lotta Love".  Yeah, we can all say it's a cliche, we've seen it a million 
times, he's tired of it.  But you know what?  It's still Robert Fucking 
Plant, up there belting out one of the great rock anthems of all time, and 
it sure as hell gets your attention.  There was a trippy instrumental 
section with faux (keyboard) theremin noises and whatnot, wich was the only 
time I really missed Jimmy.  Actually, that and Celebration Day (which 
surprised evryone).   The otherwise competent guitarist just seemed kind of 
weak on this.
For the encore he did "Song to the Siren" which is just such a great song I 
think I have to go check out a Tim Buckley record.  For about the first time 
all night, the crowd really quieted down and hung on every phrase.  
Finishing up was a nifty if quick rendition of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".
Overall show time was about 1:40 or so.  Fashion report:  nice button down 
shirt and jeans that fit a mite better than the ones from TSRTS.  Plant 
looks and sounds great, very enthusiastic and enjoying himself.  I look 
forward to the shows with the Who next week.  Speaking of which - I plan on 
scalping at least once in addition to the 8/4 show for which I have tickets. 
  The last several concerts I have attended (JPJ, Plant, Who, Springsteen) 
have had more desperate scalpers (and regular guys) hawking cheap tickets 
than I would ever have imagined.  You should easily be able to get tix for 
face value if you're not picky, if these last couple of shows were any 
indication.