When Robert Plant and his current project The Sensational Space Shifters announced that they would play the Brooklyn Bowl, it was almost a joke of sorts. Well, Plant and the band had the last laugh as they played to a crowd that gobbled up tickets in seconds and had many stating that this may be the finest show they’ve seen all year (this writer included). The 80 minute set was a surreal experience for die hards who got to witness a rock legend in a club/bowling alley.
On a seven (7) city tour in support of “Lullaby and…The Cealess Roar,” fans were treated to an extension of one final North American date at the Brooklyn Bowl. The Sensational Space Shifters consist of West African musician Juldeh Camara, guitarists Liam “Skin” Tyson and Justin Adams, drummer Dave Smith, Massive Attack keyboardist John Baggott, and bassist Billy Fuller.
BackstageAxxess had the opportunity to take part in the “unofficial” sound check hours before the show as the band played two (2) songs on the Stephen Colbert show. The band was primed to do the “witching hour” show that started with a DJ set from Questlove at 10:30pm. Plant and The Sensational Spaceshifters would take the stage around 12:15pm. Some of the musical offerings were taken from the new disc “Lullaby and…The Ceasless Roar,” of course some choice Led Zeppelin tracks and a few covers of Plant’s favorite blues artists thrown in as well for good measure.
Even though Band of Joy could be considered Plant’s first real band after Led Zeppelin, after witnessing Plant’s performance with The Sensational Spaceshifters, you can see this may be the happiest he has been in years.
Teaming up with Justin Adams years ago, Plant is able to experiment with lots of world music sounds. Adams’ diverse musical playing style weaves perfectly through Plant’s tastes to expand his musical horizons. Listening to songs like “Rainbow” and “Little Maggie,” it’s evident where Plant’s heart lies. The diversity of instruments along with Plant’s voice made the songs a truly a remarkable listening experience. Plant’s arrangements on the Led Zeppelin songs pay homage to the roots of the band but still let him to feed the fire in becoming a contemporary driving force.
It was quite an honor for the fans who got to see such an intimate show at such a really cool venue (you can say the bowling alley is more of the secondary feature at the Brooklyn Bowl). After Plant commented that this was his 26th US tour, he proved there is still a lot of good “Rockin’ at Midnight!”
Setlist:
Spoonful (Howlin’ Wolf cover)
Rainbow
Tin Pan Valley
Thank You (Led Zeppelin song)
Poor Howard
Going to California (Led Zeppelin song)
Turn It Up
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin song)
Fixin’ to Die (Bukka White cover)
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin song)
Encore:
Nobody’s Fault but Mine (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
Little Maggie
Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Waters cover) / Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin song) / Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley cover)
We would like to thank Ken Weinstein of Big Hassle PR for the photo pass to review the show.
