Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (featuring T. Bone Burnett)–Asheville, NC, June 14, 2008

I’m getting all my summer concert-going done in one fell swoop this year.

The Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (featuring T. Bone Burnett) show was more for my spouse than for me. I’ve been only a passing fan of Alison Krauss and didn’t know much about T. Bone Burnett beyond O Brother, Where Art Thou? My connection with Robert Plant, however, is a little bit stronger, having worn out a copy of Led Zeppelin IV in high school that I taped from the radio, for crap’s sake (thanks to KSHE-95 in St. Louis’ The Seventh Day program) and having spent many a night in the mid-1980’s driving around with friends singing along with “Tall Cool One” at the tops of our lungs. But I knew enough about all three musicians and had listened to their collaboration on Raising Sand enough to know that I would probably be in for a night of incredible music.

I wasn’t disappointed.

First of all, lest anyone be concerned, despite the fact that he’s rapidly approaching sixty years old, Robert Plant is still Robert F**cking Plant. He still rocks out. But with his ever-present long curly hair now juxtaposed with a face augmented by a goatee and the dignity of age, the Robert Plant of the 21st Century looks a lot less like Jesus Christ Rockstar and more like a regal leonine rock god. Sort of like Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia, only way, way cooler.

Alison Krauss, on the other hand, appears to be aging backwards (I’m serious–Google some pictures of her from the early 1990s and then go look on her website now and you’ll see what I mean). I don’t know what kind of lifestyle plan girlfriend is on, but if it’s gonna make me look like that, then sign me up. And while there were several moments in the show in which she went backstage while Plant and/or Burnett were performing, she spent the entirety of the two hour show wearing stilettos, so she has my utmost admiration–hope she sat down when she was offstage.

Um, oh yeah–there was music, too.

From the moment they began singing the opening song, “Rich Woman,” I was blown away by the quality of Plant and Krauss’ respective voices. Plant, at least to me, has every bit of the range he does on Led Zep albums recorded nearly forty years ago. And Krauss’ voice, incredibly, sounds even better live than it does on record–even on the tracks on which she wasn’t really letting loose, her voice was powerful and clear enough to fill up the Asheville Civic Center. If angels exist, I’m betting they sound a lot like Alison Krauss.

While Raising Sand (both live and on CD) is a tour through music history, featuring songs by everyone from Mel Tillis and the Everly Brothers to Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits, special highlights for me were the reimagining of Plant’s “In the Mood,” along with a stripped-down, bluesy version of “Black Dog” and a gorgeous straight-up version of “The Battle of Evermore,” all three songs featuring Plant and Krauss harmonizing together. While the entire show was excellent, these three songs alone were, for my money, well worth the price of admission.

And while I don’t really plan on having a tombstone, if I did, I’d be more than happy to have my epitaph read in part “Saw Robert Plant sing ‘The Battle of Evermore’ live and up close”–that would be pretty cool with me.