The legendary Hollywood Palladium opened its doors the night of Tuesday, October 7th, 2014, to give fans a real treat. It hosted its stage for a night of some good old rock by welcoming The Last Internationale and the legendary Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters. An excited crowd, of young rockers and mature faithful Zeppelin fans, filled the classy venue to make it a sold out show.
After performing at Lollapalooza this summer, New York activist rockers, The Last Internationale jumped on board and joined the classic rock legend on tour. The trio appeared onstage, and already, a big crowd had gathered around. Edgey Pires strapped his guitar, Delila Paz grabbed the mic, and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine took his throne on the drums. The Last Internationale took their political stand with an awesome set-list that included hits from their recent album, We Will Reign. Songs like “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Indian Blood” and “We Will Reign” raised questions about social injustices relating to economy and race. They paid tribute to another rock legend, Neil Young, and did a cover of the classic “Hey, Hey, My, My” and clearly proved that rock and roll can never die. They went out with a bang and ended their set by inviting none other than Tom Morello to join them onstage. An almost complete reunion of Rage Against the Machine and a flashback in time with their hit “1968”, left the audience in an uproar.
A purple dim light onstage welcomed a cool and calm Robert Plant, with his signature curly mane and a smile on his face. Surrounding him was his band, The Sensational Space Shifters, a group of seasoned musicians who complemented Plant’s mature musical style but respectfully, pulled off the iconic music of the legendary Led Zeppelin. An even delivery of new songs from his latest release Lullaby and….The Ceaseless Roar and older beloved Zeppelin songs kept the crowd on their toes and filled the air with nostalgia.
Beginning with songs like “No Quarter,” “Poor Howard,” and “Thank You”; Plant and company demonstrated great chemistry and talent between the group and engaged equally with the audience. Plant reminisced about his first time in California and stated “I remember thinking, I was very impressed with the way things were going here” and immediately burst into “Going to California.” Instruments were rotated around on stage, from electric to acoustic, and including an odd looking riti, an African fiddle, which simply displayed the diversity and experimentation that Plant has delved into.
The climax of the night, definitely, was his extensive and haunting rendition of “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”; where Plant replaced his Zeppelin-era high pitch tone with a deeper one and still engraved a memorable moment into his audience. The night ended with an encore of “Nobody’s Fault but Mine” and a new song, “Little Maggie”.
A fuse of blues, electronic, and folk made for an energized and passionate deliverance from this musical icon and his band.
*Photos by Laura Pelayo
