Review: Edmonton Folk Fest closes with thrilling sets from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Danielle Ponder

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When the Folk Fest lineup was announced months back, there was a certain amount of pushback on social media.

At the heart of the grumbling was a question: had the festival blown its budget on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and were they really worth it?

That petulant query was finally answered on Sunday night as the former Zep frontman and his bluegrass singing and playing partner closed out the evening: Yes, you fools, they were worth every single penny.

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That was co-signed right away by the gathering crowd at the very top of the hill outside the fence, and especially the multi-generational fans walking around in tie-dye or Led Zep shirts, proof of the band’s enduring popularity. Even outside of that widening orbit, it was evident to anyone with ears to listen. This was going to be a special night, and while nostalgia was a clear component it wasn’t the most important part.

Backed by an all-star band that included JD McPherson on guitar, the two launched into the mystery groove that is Rich Woman, low spookiness rolling up and down the hill in waves. The classic Fortune Teller crawled like a fever dream, while I Can’t Let Go’s insistent, itchy pulse magnified the delirium. They quickly reversed course, with Alison Krauss taking the lead on a dramatically slowed down, beautifully measured version of the Everly Brothers’ Price of Love.

Plant finally acknowledged what a large number of people were looking for with a version of Zep’s Rock and Roll that both rocked and rolled, followed by a sweet take on Page and Plant’s Please Read the Letter. Last Kind Word Blues and You Led Me to the Wrong attached to the gathering darkness like blues dread, with only candles and cell phones pushing back from the hill. It couldn’t last, however, Matty Groves and The Gallows Pole brought the whirlwind back, with rearrangements of The Battle of Evermore and When the Levee Breaks more than satisfying those looking for musical gifts from The Golden God. It was so overwhelming to some that they gathered around to send the two off as they left in their vehicle after Four Strong Winds.

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Pretty great, right? But Page and Krauss, as fantastic as they were, didn’t have a lock on excellent Sunday performances. Sultans of String had a notable early afternoon show on the main stage, while Boy Golden and Ruen Brothers served notice as up-and-comers. S.G. Goodman essayed a remarkable acapella version of Which Side Are You On in between main stage acts, providing both a challenge and a musical thrill.

But we need to get back to the evening main stage performers. Plant has been paring away at rock music for decades now, showing where the roots are in country, bluegrass, folk, blues, rhythm and blues and then entwining himself in them like an English pagan myth. His acolytes are still tending to the musical fruit he grew in his earlier years, however. Like The Heavy Heavy, a UK band that doesn’t appear to have any interest in the ongoing debate on the death of guitar-based rock.

They’re a bit like a particularly large and stubborn sucker popping up a long distance from a chopped-down tree, resistant to any amount of pulling or twisting. It’s all there even at the most casual of glances; shards of Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, sunshine pop, bubblegum trailing into hints of Dead boogie. Yes, even some Zep, though the four-piece doesn’t hold any particular place of privilege in those sweet harmonies, bluesy wailing, sweeping organ lines. They’re lighter than their name would suggest, and they’ve caught the sound of the era without sounding overly precious about it. If aliens in the future decided to reconstitute the music of the ’60s and ’70s into one narrow genre as a teaching tool, this is what it might sound like.

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Danielle Ponder checked off all of the right boxes as the immediate opener for Plant and Krauss. Possessed of a remarkable voice that immediately stopped anyone walking by, Ponder served as yet more proof that the festival is very good at finding artists that may not be particularly well known but deserve their spot on the main stage. Wearing what looked like an ‘Ol Dirty Bastard T-shirt, Ponder and her band served up psychodramas wrapped in soul with trip-hop flourishes, ending in an extended version of Radiohead’s Creep that gathered into a slow explosion many audience members are likely still recovering from. At any other festival that would be the natural ending and the performance that everyone talked about, but when you’re up against The Battle of Evermore you don’t really stand a chance.

— with files from Fish Griwkowsky

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