Late in Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' concert Friday night, Plant unexpectedly turned his back to the sell-out crowd at Mystic Amphitheater in Prior Lake and took notice of their band. It was as if he knew something significant was about to happen and wanted to make sure all the players were ready.
Upon Plant's cue, two fiddlers began sawing away slowly and cacophonously, building a mystery in no particular musical style. Then the drums kicked in, with a steady beat of mallets. Finally, Plant and Krauss in tandem broke into a song familiar to Led Zeppelin fans, "When the Levee Breaks," his voice louder than hers.
At last, the concert had the almost mind-bending allure of live Zeppelin, the band that made Plant famous. For 12 minutes or so the ensemble carried on, the intensity building and building, with fiddler Stuart Duncan jumping into a bluegrassy breakdown, eventually joined by guitarist JD McPherson in a trippy Middle Eastern jam before Plant started wailing with a soaring, Zeppelinesque yelp enveloped in twin fiddles.
It may not have been a hammer of the gods moment, but it was a heady Zep rush, about as much rock 'n' roll mojo as Plant can muster at age 75.
The thing about the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who's always been a bit of a musicologist, is that he's never wanted to stand pat, never wanted to live in the past, always wanted to be challenged and dive into new material or explore old songs in new ways.
In 2007, Plant formed the surprise super-duo with Krauss in the oddest of conscious couplings. First, there was the element of surprise in pairing the Led Zeppelin golden god and the bluegrass queen, nearly a quarter century apart in their ages.
But their unexpected alchemy, their sibling-like blend of voices, their willingness to reimagine a rich tapestry of Americana songs led to musical magic — not to mention a boatload of Grammys for their 2007 debut, "Raising Sand," as well as a trio of nominations for their long-awaited 2021 sophomore effort, "Raise the Roof."
Though they have toured together sporadically since 2008, Friday was the first appearance in the Twin Cities for the super-duo that stands above all super-duos. Somewhat disappointingly, though, it felt like the Robert Plant show, with Krauss, 52, playing second fiddle (figuratively and literally).
Plant did almost all the talking (she said "thank you" once and introduced Plant as "the captain of our ship"). He handled most of the lead vocals and pulled songs from his earlier records, whereas there was nothing from her splendid bluegrass albums.
While Plant may have more gravitas in some quarters, Krauss has more Grammys, 27 to his eight. And she has a special voice, the kind of sweet, angelic and often haunting voice that you want to be the last one you hear on Earth and the first one you hear in heaven. She sings with such beauty and grace, and she's an accomplished fiddle player as well.
At the start of their 90-minute performance, Plant and Krauss arrived from opposite sides of the stage, joined hands in the middle and then proceeded to stand about six feet apart the rest of the night. Often the singer with the wavy hair and black-and-white print dress kept her hands folded in front of her, like the dutiful, deferential partner in a couple, while the singer with wavy hair in a man bun and black Western shirt occasionally swung his right arm to the beat.
When they did a trio of Everly Brothers songs, including the encore of the soulfully grooving "Stick with Me Baby" and the toe-tapping "Gone Gone Gone," their voices melted together in a wonderfully satisfying way. But, for most of the night, it was Plant's voice in the spotlight.
Backed by five musicians (shout out to stellar drummer Jay Bellerose) and occasionally Krauss' fiddle, Plant and Krauss reimagined three Zeppelin favorites, with "Rock and Roll" commencing as a fiddle hoedown before morphing into a rockabilly romp, and "The Battle of Evermore" finding Krauss taking the high harmony with Plant singing quite forcefully.
Krauss delivered a lovely old traditional English tune, "Matty Groves," sandwiched between Plant's solo selection "In the Mood" and "Gallows Pole" from his duo with ex-Zep partner Jimmy Page. Plant offered one new original from "Raise the Roof" called "High and Lonesome" — not bluegrass as the title might suggest but a winning swamp stomp with a gypsy jazz fiddle solo by Krauss.
No exploration of great traditional American music of the 20th century would be complete without some New Orleans music, including the soul tune "Fortune Teller," and some Texas alt-country, namely Randy Weeks' "Can't Let Go," which will undoubtedly rock harder if Lucinda Williams, who popularized the song, plays it Saturday at the Hilde Performance Center in Plymouth.
Rocking hard is apparently a thing of the past for Plant, though some fans can't let go of what he was. He's now a different kind of interpreter of American music, accompanied by a glorious singer who deserves more shine onstage in this super-duo.
