Photo by David McClister

Last night, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss opened their Raise the Roof tour at Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, N.Y. Their set was heavily comprised of tracks from their latest joint album, Raise the Roof – released Nov. 19, 2021 – along with a few numbers from their first collaborative effort, 2007’s Raising Sand.

Throughout the performance the pair treated the audience to some Led Zeppelin classics starting with “Rock and Roll.” They immediately followed up with a cover of Plant and Jimmy Page’s “Please Read the Letter,” a rocking ballad first featured on their 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale. 

The show later featured “The Battle of Evermore” and a performance of Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy’s “When The Levee Breaks,” both of which Led Zeppelin included on their untitled fourth album released in 1971. The performance was backed by fiddle, upright bass and electric guitar; in line with their recent releases the duo added a rustic spin to the Led Zeppelin hits. 

Apart from the Led Zeppelin covers and their collaborative material, Plant and Krauss explored their shared musical inspirations found on Raise the Roof with covers of The Everly Brothers, Benny Spellman, Little Milton, Bert Jansch and more.

Watch Plant and Krauss’s performances of “Rock and Roll” and “The Battle of Evermore” below.

Read Relix’s Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Mystic Chords of Memory.