Robert Plant Dusts Off ‘Immigrant Song’ For 1st Time In 23 Years

Robert Plant ended his recent headlining set at the Secret Solstice festival in Iceland with a partial rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic “Immigrant Song.” Plant last sang “Immigrant Song” way back on February 9, 1996 during a tour with Jimmy Page.

Plant wrote the lyrics to “Immigrant Song” during a 1970 tour of Iceland. “We weren’t being pompous … We did come from the land of the ice and snow,” said the vocalist about the tune in an interview published as part of Chris Welch’s Led Zeppelin book in 1994. “We were guests of the Icelandic Government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal.” Within a week of the Reykjavik gig, Led Zeppelin debuted “The Immigrant Song” at England’s Bath Festival and went on to open with the tune through 1972.

Led Zeppelin never performed “Immigrant Song” again after a lone play in 1973 as per Setlist.FM. Plant added the tune to the setlist for his 1988 – 1991 solo tours and for 14 concerts in 1995 and 1996 with Page. On June 23, Robert and his Sensational Space Shifters band tacked on a few verses of “Immigrant Song” after “Ramble On” to close their set. “Thank you and thank your culture way back for the inspiration,” Plant told the crowd.

Watch fan-shot video of “Ramble On” and “Immigrant Song” captured by Gunnar Hólmsteinn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7GnE_NilDI

[Hat Tip – Henne Music]