Robert Plant

Saturday 8th July - Main Stage

As the front man for Led Zeppelin from 1969 – 1982, Robert Plant’s unmistakeably unique vocals combined with his powerful stage presence rocketed him to godlike status around the globe. His main stage headlining appearance on Saturday 8th July is sure to be one of the highlights of the weekend.

Robert Plant could have put his feet up years ago knowing that he'd done enough to sit at rock's top table.

But the former Led Zeppelin frontman has too much fire in his belly to throw in the towel. So, he formed The Strange Sensation and has had the music world drooling ever since.

And as live rock acts go, it certainly doesn‘t get any better than this. Flanked by three demon guitarists, Plant took us on a mystical journey, plundering Led Zep’s back catalogue, taking old classics – as well as Rearranger tracks – and letting rip with fresh and ballsy versions.

Strange Sensation

Billy Fuller - bass
When Robert was searching for a new bassist, he tried endless virtuosos and big names, but it was hard to find anyone with the required creativity and impeccable taste. Enter 29 year old Billy Fuller, music obsessive and night time bass player, with a day job in a record shop. His cult Bristol band, Fuzz Against Junk, had been recording for Geoff Barrow‘s Invada label, and Billys upright and Electric bass playing stood out, imaginative and rock solid. He fitted perfectly into the Strange Sensation and within weeks was playing to 50.000 at Bristol’s Ashton Court Festival, with his proud dad backstage. Mr Fuller senior had a brief brush with music history, playing snare drum with the Wurzels for five days, until he chinned Adge Cutler in a pub in Pill North Somerset. As well as working with the Strange Sensation, he has been playing improvised gigs with Can‘s shamanic singer Damo Suzuki.

Clive Deamer - drums
An edgy, leaner Bonham for the 21st Century, Clive Deamer was at the backbone of two of the most influential British albums of the 90‘s, both winners of the Mercury music prize. Portishead’s “Dummy” and Roni Size’s “New Forms”. A devotee of Jazz and R&B drummers like Earl Palmer, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones, his Jazz aesthetic is coloured by sudden bursts of Rock aggression and tight but loose breakbeat feel. He is a member of the Ornette Coleman inspired trio The Blessing, whose free approach informs all of his playing, and he is constantly in demand as a recording drummer, for his taste and discipline. In hairier days he played with Hawkwind at Amsterdam’s infamous Melkweg. While more recently he has worked with Dr John, Jeff Beck, and new Irish band Hal. Together with John Baggott, for the recording of “Mighty Rearranger”, he brought computer recording technology to rehearsals, combining old school spontaneity and feel with infinite micro-chip possibilities.

John Baggott - keyboards
John coaxes dark soundscapes from an array of vintage Moogs, tape echoes and Wurlitzer pianos, pushing computers to their limits with warped loops and distorted filters. He‘s been a regular collaborator with seminal Bristol band Massive Attack and Portishead both as a live musician and recording artist. His wide screen atmospherics are naturally cinematic and he’s worked on feature films such, Danny the Dog (With Massive Attack) Creep and Love and Death on Long Island (With the Startled Insects) as well as Emmy award winning documentary soundtracks. Together with Alison Goldfrapp and Portishead’s Adrian Utley he also composed music for Nicholas Roegs film “Sound”. Born in Bristol he was rarely far from a piano and devoured music theory books, cutting his teeth on the Jazz and R&B circuit playing with U.S. singer George Wild Child Butler and cutting edge Jazz players such as Gilad Atzmon, Dylan Howe and Jean Toussaint.

Justin Adams - guitar
Brought up in the Middle East, with an adolescent soundtrack of Punk and Reggae, by the late 80‘s J.A. was honing a guitar style that melded African, Arabic and Blues elements into a distinctive whole. For 8 years he worked with ex P.I.L Bassist Jah Wobble in the groundbreaking Invaders of the Heart. Since then he has produced albums for Lo’Jo and Tuareg guitar rebels Tinariwen, composed soundtracks for films set in Namibia and Beirut, released an acclaimed solo album “Desert Road” on his own Wayward label, and performed at the Festival in the Desert in Northern Mali with Robert Plant and Skin. With his band the Wayward Sheikhs. he has played in Syria and Tunisia, collaborating with local musicians, and as a guitarist he has recorded and played with artists like Sinead O‘Connor, Brian Eno, Natacha Atlas and Taj Mahal. All these musical travels have taught him a language of the ancient Deep Blues, which dovetails Robert’s love of the sounds of the Delta, the Atlas Mountains and beyond

Skin Tyson - guitar
Escaping the crazed rave scene of late nineties Liverpool, Skin found a safe haven in the shadow of the Lords of the Eyrie, Snowdonia Wales. A member of the band Cast who were a feature of the U.K charts during the Brit Pop explosion, his guitar style always showed imagination and depth. He started to play guitar at age six and quickly joined the local district marching band, playing bugle and snare drum in a Liverpool Irish culture rich in song. From there he joined a succession of local bands his quicksilver guitar style shining in a Liverpool brimming with talent. After Cast, he started work on the on-going Men from Mars Project with producer John Leckie but soon got diverted by the Strange Sensation. In this band, his open tuned finger picked acoustic guitar and wild psychedelic soloing resonate with Robert’s West Coast leaning to create beautiful and explosive moments.