Robert Plant and Alison Krauss kicked off their Raise The Roof tour on Wednesday at Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, NY. Though the collaborators leaned heavily on their joint albums Raise The Roof and 2007’s Raising Sand, they also treated fans to some Led Zeppelin classics.
Wednesday’s tour opener marked Plant and Krauss’s first show together since the Raising Sand tour concluded in 2009.
“So no panic here,” Plant joked during the show, later adding: “This is a very ticklish moment for us. I think we’re doing okay?”
After over a decade apart, Plant and Krauss picked their creative chemistry right back up with Raise The Roof, released in November 2021. Between selections from the two albums, the singers explored their mutual inspirations with covers from Benny Spellman, Little Milton, The Everly Brothers, and more.
The roots-leaning backing band—comprised of a drummer, fiddle player, upright bassist, and electric guitarist—got the joint rocking early on with a countrified take on Led Zepp’s “Rock and Roll”. This was immediately followed by Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page‘s “Please Read The Letter”. Plant and Krauss managed to fit one more Zeppelin cover in with the Celtic-inspired “The Battle of Evermore” later on in the show. The duo also turned in a performance of Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy‘s “When The Levee Breaks”, which appears on Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album.
Robert Plant, Alison Krauss – “Rock And Roll” (Led Zeppelin) – 6/1/22
Robert Plant, Alison Krauss – “The Battle of Evermore” (Led Zeppelin) – 6/1/22
[Video: DanLucky11]
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s joint tour continues on June 3rd at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY and will run through September 4th when it wraps at Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park in Austin, TX. For tickets and a full list of tour dates, head here.
Setlist: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss | Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center | Canandaigua, NY | 6/1/22
Set: Rich Woman (Li’l Millet and His Creoles), Quattro, Fortune Teller (Benny Spellman), The Price of Love, Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin), Please Read the Letter (Jimmy Page & Robert Plant), Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson (Little Milton), High and Lonesome, Last Kind Words Blues, You Led Me to The Wrong, Trouble With My Lover, Go Your Way, It Don’t Bother Me, The Battle of Evermore (Led Zeppelin), Searching for My Love, When the Levee Breaks (Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy), Gone Gone Gone (The Everly Brothers), Somebody Was Watching Over Me
Encore: Stick With Me Baby (The Everly Brothers), Can’t Let Go