But what you also won't get is a guy in denial of his past and of the things that made him an icon in the first place.

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) this past Saturday (Sept. 27)-the second show on his U.S. tour to support his latest album, the excellent lullaby and� the Ceaseless Roar-it was obvious that Plant is unconcerned with the size of his paycheck. He could easily make millions by reuniting with Zeppelin whenever he wants to, or with Alison Krauss, for that matter. He also seemed unconcerned with where his music fits in to the pop culture zeitgeist in 2014. And he, his band, and whoever opts to attend his concerts, are all the better for it.

That's because at his shows these days, there are absolutely zero moments of perfunctory performance. Nothing sounds tired, nothing sounds rote. Plant seems equally interested in reimagining Zeppelin classics as he is in playing his new songs and doing new interpretations of blues chestnuts.

A the BAM show, all of the songs he performed fit into one of the above categories. His solo catalog-including his recent forays into Americana-were nowhere to be found.

Plant and his band, the well-named Sensational Space Shifters (Justin Adams on guitars and other stringed instruments, backing vocals; Juldeh Camara on an African fiddle called a ritti, backing vocals; Lim "Skin" Tyson on guitar, banjo, backing vocals; John Battott on keyboards, backing vocals; Billy Fuller on bass; and Dave Smith on drums) entered the BAM stage to the sounds of Link Wray's "Rumble" (a song that one of Plant's former bandmates is a big fan of as well) with the swagger of a band that knows they are about to blow minds.