Robert Plant performed "Immigrant Song" during his June 23 set at the Secret Solstice festival in Iceland. According to Led Zeppelin News , the song's surprise airing marked the first time the singer has played the LED ZEPPELIN classic since he performed it with Jimmy Page in Tokyo, Japan in February 1996.
Plant likely chose to close his Secret Solstice set with "Immigrant Song" because the song was inspired by LED ZEPPELIN 's visit to Iceland — "the land of ice and snow" — in 1970.
As quoted in Chris Welch 's "Led Zeppelin Dazed And Confused" , Plant had this to say about his lyrical inspiration: "We weren't being pompous. We did come from the land of the ice and snow. 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 canceled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. 'Immigrant Song' was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different."
Plant has spent the last two decades exploring different sounds, from the Americana-tinged "Raising Sand" , a Grammy -winning collaboration with Alison Krauss in 2007, to 2017's world music-influenced "Carry Fire" .
In concert, Plant and the SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS often perform a cosmic, bluesy rendition of LED ZEPPELIN 's "Black Dog" , and also run through ZEPPELIN 's "The Lemon Song" , "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and a rendition of "Whole Lotta Love" that integrates the Willie Dixon -penned blues classic "I Just Want To Make Love To You" .
