A crowd of about 3,000 people gathered at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh , PA. It was a cold winter night, but that wouldn’t stop the faithful from coming out to see a living legend perform.

The opening act was the North Mississippi Allstars, who played their set as a two man band without bassist Chris Chew. That wasn’t going to stop the brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson from delivering an incredibly energetic and powerful set on their own. Much of the crowd was over 40 years old, and many had likely never heard of the NMAS. They ripped through song after song and in fact, they sounded so solid as a two-piece band, that many who had never seen or heard of them before, probably thought that the group was always a duo. Their set lasted about an hour, and without a doubt they left the stage with some additional fans.

After about a twenty minute break, at 9:05pm , the lights dimmed and Robert Plant and his Band of Joy hit the stage. There had been a lot of chatter coming from the seats about whether or not he would play any Zeppelin tunes, and if so how many? Judging by the amount of Zeppelin T-shirts in the building, it would probably have been a safe assumption to say that everyone there would have loved a full set of Zeppelin songs.

The music we’ve received from Robert Plant in recent years has been a far cry from his years in Led Zeppelin. He tends to drift toward musical arrangements with a heavy influence on folk, blues, and bluegrass. He often pairs himself with a female vocalist for the harmonies and tuned down parts of old songs his vocal chords can no longer hit. We saw evidence of this on his last album with Allison Krauss and now again in The Band of Joy where he is accompanied by the legendary Patty Griffin.

At 62 years of age, it would be foolish to expect Plant to have the same vocal abilities that he did in his prime. With that being said, his voice is still quite powerful and instantly recognizable. Despite a few noticeable tune-downs, he was very on point.

The Band of Joy is a solid group of musicians composed of Buddy Miller, Darrel Scott, Byron House, Marco Giovino and Griffin. They deliver a sound that contains a mixture of blues, folk, bluegrass, and even gospel.

The question over whether or not they would play Zeppelin tunes was answered immediately when they band came out and performed “Gallows Pole” as their opening tune. Unlike the original version of the song, this one was carried by Darrel Scott’s banjo. This was just one of five instruments that Scott played throughout the night including the mandolin, lap steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, acoustic guitar, and even an accordion. His presence added a dose of bluegrass to all of the songs throughout the night.

The show continued pace and over the next hour and 45 minutes we received a mix of songs, both old and new. Off of the new Band of Joy album we heard about five songs, including the opening track “Angel Dance,” along with “House of Cards,” “You Can’t Buy My love,” “Harms Swift Way” and “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down.” Laced in between those new tracks were Zeppelin classics like “Tangerine,” “Ramble On” and “Houses of the Holy,” although they were played in a tuned-down bluegrass style that gave them a more mellow feel. Plant even included a few tracks from his post-Zeppelin career such as the 1988 radio hit “Tall Cool One” off of his Now and Zen album. Every so often, he would step back and sing backing vocals or play the harmonica while another member of the band sang an old folk tune.

Overall, it was a solid show. Fans who came out to see Plant belt out his signature vocals over a hard rock style band similar to Led Zeppelin, may have left disappointed. However, for years now, Plant has kept his music different from the sounds of the earlier group. Robert Plant himself will be the first to remind you that he has been a solo act for much longer at this point in his career than he was with Led Zeppelin. If you can get past the nostalgia, this group actually fits him quite well.

The band left the stage for a few moments and then returned for a three song encore that included another track from their new album, as well as Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” They finished off with an a cappella version of “We Bid You Goodnight,” a song made most popular by the Grateful Dead.

No Robert… We Bid You Goodnight…