If God and the devil put their petty bickering aside and booked a musical revue together it might sound, no, make that it would sound, just like last night’s sold-out and Alison Krauss show at the Bank of America Pavilion.
Few thought the duo would work, but the princess of bright bluegrass and the high priest of heavy metal and deep, dark blues made one of 2007’s best albums in “Raising Sand.” Now they’ve parlayed that album into a tour that contrasts purity and mischief, and does it with delicate power.
Like the album, the show inverted cliches. While Krauss spent most of the set playing the angel - “Down the River to Pray,” sung a cappella by Krauss with Plant and the band adding some sparse harmonies, was a musical rapture - she also let a little dark side show.
A great bluegrass singer, Krauss’ skills occasionally came off as paint-by-numbers perfect. But with “Green River” she legitimately nailed that whole haunting vocal thing.
Okay, Plant never really repented, but he wasn’t all debonaire devil. He’s still got that fox in the henhouse swagger - and he showed it best on “Fortune Teller” - but he’s aging gracefully.
On a duet with Krauss, Plant turned “Black Dog” into an exercise in atmosphere. No high screech or rooster strut, it was all creepy restraint. He also managed to make the song’s sexual moaning into a call-and-response with the crowd - many of whom were unsexy, Lexus-owning suburbanites.
Rightfully, the centerpiece of the set was a menacing cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Battle of Evermore” that, well, to call it transcendent would sell the song short. Plant held down the low end while Krauss cooed like a Middle Earth elf.
Plant said “See you next time” and seemed to mean it. Which is great news. This can only get cooler on album and tour No. 2.
Sharon Little opened up with some Grace Potter blues-country-folk. It would have been nice before Bonnie Raitt, but it didn’t really cut it next to the duo of the day.
jgottlieb@bostonherald.com
