ROBERT PLANT - "Touring For The Sake Of Touring, For Me, After All These Years, Is Just Pointless - I Have To Be Excited"
June 4, 2008, 16 years ago
LED ZEPPELIN singer ROBERT PLANT spoke to Rob Trucks from the Villagevoice.com recently during the Raising Sand tour, celebrating his successful 2007 album with bluegrass beacon ALISON KRAUSS. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
"It's almost like automatic pilot to think that there is a tour that goes with an album," says Plant. "I mean, there are so many situations that I wouldn't want to tour in now, because I may have visited certain areas of music too often to actually be excited."The Plant/Krauss set list often includes reworked versions of 'Black Dog', 'When The Levee Breaks', and 'The Battle Of Evermore'. "There are certain songs which will lend themselves to an absolute, stripped-down situation," Plant says. "And the thing about my singing is, I'm really, really working on moving from style to style within the show, you know. I mean, I think it's such a great challenge. That's where I'm really getting off, because I'm doing so many things differently. And still being whatever I was."
The tour," he says, "just became something to get excited about once we had a personality. But, you know, touring for the sake of touring, for me, after all these years, is just pointless. I have to be excited."
Yep, still looking at you, Zep fans. And just in case you need more: "You can't just borrow the Stones' plane," Plant says. "It's got to have a creative kernel of endeavor and whatever it is, otherwise it won't work, because Zep was about that.
"I mean, if you want the quick tug," he continues, "if you want the $5 massage or the happy ending, you know exactly how to get that. That's a pointless exercise. For me, I just want to do stuff where at the end of the night, I can turn and look at the people I'm working with and go, 'That was not just an achievement—it was one of the most heart-rending experiences I've had.' And that's what happened to me night before last."Read more here.
