★ “It’s taken a long time to do twenty gigs,” Robert Plant quips, about a band that debuted shortly before the pandemic. Soon after, his enchantingly voiced singing partner Suzi Dian exclaims: “Wow, I can’t believe it has gone so fast. I mean, I’m having such a fantastic time!” The two comments from opposite ends of the telescope perfectly encapsulate an evening that reminds the half-masked sell-out audience how live music can bend time.
Saving Grace is the latest manifestation of Plant’s enduring passion for American roots music – and male/female harmonies. Seated behind him and Dian are three brilliant players: Tony Kelsey, mainly electric guitar; Matt Worley, plucking strings attached to banjo, guitar and mandolin (and frequently adding a soulful voice to the ensemble); and Oli Jefferson, behind a drum kit that is really just a convenient collection of items to explain his understated introduction as “percussionist”.