Tall Cool One

It can't be easy to be a rock legend, especially when you're approaching senior citizen territory. There's always the danger of tarnishing your image like an old boxer who didn't retire early enough and is now just a shadow of his former self. There are some, like Lemmy or the guys from Rush, who just keep on going with no appreciable decline in ability. And then there's Robert Plant, whose post-Led Zeppelin career has seen him branch out in several different, always interesting directions. The only direction he hasn't pursued is the most obvious, a Zep reunion. But judging by his 90-minute performance Tuesday night at a sold-out House of Blues in Boston, he's chosen the right path once again.

I'd only seen Plant live once before, in 1990 at Great Woods in Mansfield touring behind the Manic Nirvana album. Back then, he had a band of young bucks playing hard rock. This time around, Plant's sound is steeped in Americana, mixing in blues, country and gospel flavoring. Dubbed the Band of Joy (and touring the album of the same name), Plant's backing band featured former Boston folk singer Patty Griffin, guitarist Buddy Miller, instrumentalist Darrell Scott, bassist Byron House, and drummer Marco Giovino.

Plant opened with Zep's "Nobody's Fault But Mine," reimagined as a blues dirge. At age 62, he can't hit those ridiculously high notes that he did in the '70s and '80s, so wisely he sticks to a lower register that is just as compelling. His latest album reflects his love of American roots music, as did his prior album with Alison Krauss, but there's more bite to the new material. Songs like "Angel Dance" and "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" may not have appealed to the many folks in attendance looking for Zep bombast, but they were immensely rewarding.

Plant also played the benevolent bandleader, giving Griffin, Miller and Scott the spotlight to sing lead on their own songs while he sang backup. But he didn't neglect the past, trotting out Zep classics like "Rock and Roll," "Gallows Pole," "Ramble On" and "Houses of the Holy," albeit in different interpretations. Plant also revisited his 1988 hit "Tall Cool One," giving it a rockabilly twist and omitting the rap and Zep samples of the original version.

It would have very easy for Plant to sign up for a Zeppelin reunion after the band played a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegun in 2007. But he doesn't need the money and he's not interested in dwelling on the past. Plant was clearly enjoying himself Tuesday night, and so were those of us lucky enough to be there.