Krauss, Plant turn WaMu into a down-home blues bar

Concert Review |

WaMu Theater is an industrial-strength 7,000-seater inside Qwest Field Event Center. But Wednesday night the warehouse-size space felt more like a Louisiana honky-tonk or a Southern grange hall or some other down-home place where a bunch of like-minded musicians get together to jam and have some fun.

Although Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the stars of the show, and their rich, finely crafted vocals rose above everything, the concert was a total-band experience; a meeting of brilliant musical minds all on the same bluesy, swampy wavelength. The show was so much more than just a recital of the songs from their only album together, the remarkable "Raising Sand."

It was pure music, a magical performance that had little to do with the fame of the people involved. A couple of tunes by Led Zeppelin, Plant's former band, showed up, most notably "The Battle of Evermore" with Krauss taking the part originally sung by the late Sandy Denny; and a slowed-down, country-flavored, fiddle- and banjo-drenched "Black Dog." Plant even brought up Led Zep's infamous groupie shenanigans at the Edgewater Inn.

But the song that sounded most like Plant's old band was a long, rousing version of Townes Van Zandt's "Nothin'," during which Plant wailed and rocked like days of old.

He was cool and smooth telling the story of the "Fortune Teller," achingly plaintive when pleading "Please Read the Letter," and rollicking on "Gone Gone Gone."

Krauss' sweet, beautiful voice graced "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," based on Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Strange Things Are Happening Every Day"; Gene Clark's dark waltz "Through the Morning, Through the Night"; the Carter Family's sweet, old-timey "Wildwood Flower"; and especially an a cappela version of "Down to the River to Pray."

The two of them had fun with Ray Charles' "Leave My Woman Alone," Warren Zevon's "I'm a One Woman Man" and a blending of Plant's "In the Mood" and Krauss' version of "Matty Groves."

Tall, imposing guitarist T Bone Burnett — looking like an antebellum dandy in a long black coat — led the black-suited band (the rhythm section even wore ties), including the impressive Buddy Miller on guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, banjo and guitar, Dennis Crouch on upright bass and the tight and lively Jay Bellerose on drums.

Singer-songwriter Sharon Little and her three-piece band had the good fortune to be the opening act. The audience was kind to them.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com