Page and Plant: Less is Best

When guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant repaired their Led Zeppelin partnership and reunited to tour behind 1994's No Quarter (Atlantic) back when the Boston Garden was still standing, they brought with them an unwieldy line-up that included a second guitarist, a string section, and an Egyptian ensemble. And though they used the occasion to dust off a good number of pleasing Zeppelin classics, they failed to harness the raw dynamics that once propelled those songs. Plant was in decent form, but there was just too much padding for Page's unique take on the blues -- his scraping rhythms and stuttering phrasings -- to cut through. Once a guitar hero's guitar hero, Page was at times relegated to a support role, with his leads being handled by the other guitarist.

Now touring behind their second post-Zeppelin album together -- Walking into Clarksdale (Atlantic) -- Page and Plant have apparently realized that for their brand of riff rock, less really is best. When they hit the unadorned stage at the FleetCenter last Monday for the first of two sold-out area shows (they played Great Woods the following night), Page was the only guitarist, Plant was the only performer with a vocal microphone, and the duo were backed by just a bass player (Charlie Jones) and a drummer (Michael Lee) as they kick-started the metallic rhythmic riff of "The Wanton Song." The foursome were eventually joined by multi-instrumentalist Phil Andrews, who added the appropriate keyboard and mandolin embellishments to Zep tunes like "No Quarter" and "Going to California" without crowding the mix.

Sure, Page and Plant are two aging rockers on a nostalgia trip. Only four of the 15 tunes in the regular set were new, and of those only the dark-hued "Shining in the Light" stood out. But with Page playing with more confidence and finesse than he's displayed in ages, the duo are now forging a solid link to their past rather than merely suggesting its existence.

-- Matt Ashare