Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den

 (2012)

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
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Starring: Robert Plant, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Darrell Scott, Byron House, Marco Giovino
Director: Jojo Pennebaker

» See full cast & crew

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray Review

Pedal steel Zeppelin.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, August 13, 2012

There's a certain delicious irony to some aspects of the so-called British Invasion of the sixties, a time when English bands both great and not so great made significant inroads on the American pop and rock charts, sending a decided chill through the hearts of American musicians who suddenly were being given a run for their gold record money. The irony is that many, if not most, of these British "invaders" were in fact enamored of American rock 'n' roll, and had gotten into music to begin with simply because of their love of American music. In fact many of the first wave of the British Invasion seemed to be as fascinated by more traditional Tin Pan Alley as they were of the more standard rock repertoire—witness the Beatles' charming interpretation of Meredith Willson's "Till There Was You" from the Broadway musical The Music Man. While Robert Plant wasn't part of the first wave of the British Invasion, by the time Led Zeppelin started raising a ruckus in the late sixties and early seventies, American music had undergone a sea change from the sounds of the late fifties and early sixties, but it had evidently lost none of its allure for those across the pond. Plant is unabashedly and unashamedly a fan of American music in its many forms, a love that was brought to bear on his rather surprising and ultimately Grammy Album of the Year Award winning effort with Alison Krauss Raising Sand in 2009. Plant confesses in an interview included on this Blu-ray as a supplement that he wasn't especially open to working with a female vocalist this late in his career, alluding to if not actually mentioning outright the sentiment that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". But something in that Krauss collaboration sparked an ember in Plant's soul, and in many ways, this unusual but highly enjoyable concert is the result. Krauss herself isn't in attendance, but that same American Roots ethos is all over Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den.



Plant himself has been wary of the usual attribution of "heavy metal" being attached to Led Zeppelin, and in fairness a lot of the band's music tended toward a more folksy, roots-laden acoustic sound, so perhaps the transition to Plant actually performing American music in that same general category shouldn't come as a huge surprise. What may be surprising is just how elegantly several reworkings of Zeppelin tunes fit into this new band sound, one rife with pedal steel guitar, banjo, mandolin and other instruments one would hardly ever think of attributing to heavy metal in general or Zeppelin in particular. Plant's voice is still incredibly pliant, if not quite as forceful as it was in days of yore, and this largely mellow set is often quite compelling on its own terms.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den was recorded in a rather unusual setting (part of the emphasis of the Artists Den series), the Nashville War Memorial, once the home of the Grand Old Opry. The special was directed by one Jojo Pennebaker, and if that name sounds slightly familiar, you may be familiar with some of the incredible documentaries helmed by Jojo's father, D.A. Pennebaker, such legendary fare as Monterey Pop and my own personal favorite, Company: Original Cast Album, a look at the recording sessions of the early seventies Stephen Sondheim musical Company, replete with the near nervous breakdown of co-star Elaine Stritch as she attempted to sing "The Ladies Who Lunch". Pennebaker fils brings his father's fine eye for detail into this enterprise, and it's a blessed relief to have a music concert director who doesn't feel the need to quick cut manically between various cameras. We actually are privy to relatively long, lingering shots of Plant and the rest of the musicians, something that only adds to the kind of laid back, languorous feel of much of the evening.

Plant gave this assemblage the name Band of Joy, the same moniker one of his pre-Zeppelin groups had, and it's a suitably descriptive title. The band consists of Buddy Miller on guitars and vocals; Patty Griffin on acoustic guitar and vocals; Darrell Scott on pedal steel, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and vocals; Byron House on bass; and Marco Giovino on drums and percussion. The group moves through a half dozen or so of Zeppelin tunes, as well as essaying a number of unexpected songs, including Los Lobos' "Angel Dance" a nicely evocative a cappella rendition of the traditional spiritual "I Bid You Goodnight", which closes the concert.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den includes the following songs:

• 01. Black Dog
• 02. Angel Dance
• 03. Houses of the Holy
• 04. House of Cards
• 05. Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday
• 06. Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
• 07. Somewhere Trouble Don't Go
• 08. Tangerine
• 09. A Satisfied Mind
• 10. Move Up
• 11. Down to the Sea
• 12. Ramble On
• 13. Gallows Pole
• 14. In the Mood
• 15. Rock and Roll
• 16. I Bid You Goodnight

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Music Group and Artists Den Records with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. While this interlaced presentation does suffer from occasional combing artifacts and at times just a bit of softness, overall this is a nicely sharp and extremely well detailed offering that benefits from the unusual setting and the fact that more or less natural stage lighting is utilized. Therefore none of the usual posterizing problems we see in so many blue and red swathed concert videos is on display, and instead we have a sunny bright rendering which really pops nicely most of the time, especially in close-ups. (It's kind of ironic to describe the evening as "sunny bright", as evidently Nashville was experiencing a rather major snowstorm the night of the concert, by the look of some exterior shots).

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den features two great sounding audio mixes, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround offering and an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. For the most part, this is a startlingly clear and nuanced set of mixes, with sterling fidelity and generously spacious sound in the 5.1 mix. About the only complaint some may have is the mix, which tends to favor the low end over the vocals at times. The opening two numbers feature a droning low frequency hum which I assume is from one of the guitars or bass, since it's tonal, but it's fairly annoying after a while. After you get past that anomaly, things improve dramatically and the audio offers Plant's still supple voice in all its gravelly glory.

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Interview with Robert Plant (1080i; 15:38). Plant talks about his perhaps surprisingly long association with Nashville, and how a somewhat circuitous route led him to discovering more about American music.


• Inside the Den (1080i; 1:36) is a brief look at the Nashville War Memorial, built to honor those lost in World War I. The complex also housed the Symphony for 55 years and the Grand Old Opry for a few years in the late thirties and the early forties.


• Night in Pictures (1080i; 2:48)


• About the Artists Den offers a pop up window with text explaining how Live from the Artists Den is a three time New York Emmy nominated television series which seeks to present popular recording acts performing in non- traditional settings throughout North America.

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy: Live from the Artists Den Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy Live From the Artists Den may surprise some longtime Led Zeppelin fans, especially those who aren't that familiar with Robert Plant's solo career and his recent foray into Americana with Alison Krauss. Live From the Artists Den is definitely in that same general Raising Sand vocabulary, but it's also rather amazingly broad based, offering everything from a remarkably laid back "Houses of the Holy" to a boisterous, almost Buddy Holly-esque "Rock and Roll". Plant sounds great and the band is spectacularly effective, albeit pretty low key a lot of the time. The concert is extremely well directed by Jojo Pennebaker, who thankfully realizes not every concert lover suffers from ADHD and therefore actually allows his camera to linger on the participants instead of cutting madly between various shots every second and a half. With excellent video and audio, and some slight but interesting supplements, this release comes Recommended.

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