Robert Plant Saving Grace review – The self-effacing megastar still looks amazing | Robert Plant

forBetween songs, Robert Plant describes his latest project, Saving Grace, as hailing “from the West Side of common sense.” It’s a self-effacing observation but he has a point. Most rock stars of his caliber and stature (78 next year, somewhere between 200 million and 300 million albums sold with Led Zeppelin) would be there to assert their status by touring hits. But as anyone who followed Plant’s post-Zeppelin career will tell you, the live option didn’t seem to have much appeal for him.

So Saving Grace is a band assembled from local musicians at his home in Shropshire – although it’s not entirely clear whether Plant is joking when he suggests he found multi-instrumentalist Matt Worley working at the local tourist information office. Their work is an interesting mix of traditional folk songs (The Cuckoo, As I Roved Out); covers that attest to Plant’s famously Catholic tastes (the song Everybody by Low is a spin on “It’s a Beautiful Day Today” by 1960s psych heroes Moby Grape); And a scattering of Led Zeppelin tracks that you could fairly describe as radically rearranged: both Ramble On and Four Sticks now feature heavily accordion, with the low end provided not by bass guitar but cello. Moreover, this is an evening in which one of rock history’s most famous frontmen – and one with an absolutely stunning voice – seems happy to regularly relinquish the limelight, effectively serving as back-up singer for Lorelei and singer Susie Dayan.

It would be surreal if the results weren’t so good. At turns, the music is strange – the vocals on their version of “As I Roved Out” have an odd, slightly unsettling angle to the background – as well as exploratory and, despite all the unexpected instrumentation, muscular. Who knew a mandolin could sound so loud?

Diane is such a great singer, that even Plant receding into the background doesn’t seem like an effect. Instead, he and Saving Grace succeed in creating music that truly feels like a group effort, with each member pulling the sound in different directions. You’ll never get the impression that you’re watching a star and a backing band. “Exploring possibilities,” Plant nodded happily, by way of explanation, a man who makes capital by doggedly following his nose.