LED Zeppelin “rock god” Robert Plant joined two Wyre Forest musicians in a secret gig in memory of his late producer.
The former frontman, who lives in Shatterford, joined friend and co-writer, guitarist, Robbie Blunt, of Franche and lead singer, Neville Farmer, of Bewdley in a tribute to Pat Moran.
Pat worked on Plant’s first three solo albums and died earlier this year. The concert was held in Monmouth to raise money for sufferers of Picks Disease, the form of dementia which Pat died from.
The Worcestershire artists formed a supergroup with Pat’s old collaborators, Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers, drummer and Charlatans producer, Dave Charles, bassist for Robert Plant and Phil Collins, Paul Martinez and Mott The Hoople founder and keyboardist, Verden Allen.
Pretenders drummer Martin Chamber and Dave Edmunds of Love Sculpture also made a surprise appearance to join in for the encore.
The supergroup appeared under the name, The Rockfield Allstars, after Rockfield Studios, where they had all recorded with Pat, half a mile from where the gig was held at The Bridges Community Centre. Hobo, the 70s band Pat produced at Rockfield, reformed to play support.
Plant joined the band for a number of classic rock and roll hits, as well as Big Log, the hit co-written by him, Robbie Blunt and Paul Martinez and produced by Pat Moran.
Neville sang with Wyre Forest band Dead Ringer and the Clones in the late 70s, before moving to London where he was a musical director for shows such as Lonely Planet and Grand Designs. He was also a consultant editor of Music Week and a journalist for Billboard Magazine and knew Pat when he was editor of Studio Magazine.
They recorded together at Rockfield, which hosted rock legends such as Black Sabbath, The Stone Roses and The Charlatans. Neville said: “He was a great musical mentor and he was a great one for coming up with ideas. He was a very strong willed producer although a very gentle guy.”
After the gig Plant chatted with the audience and fan Darren Martin said: "It was amazing - he's a rock god and he was playing in a village hall.”
Neville added: “We think we’ve raised a couple of thousand pounds and celebrated the life of a dear friend and we enjoyed ourselves so much we’re hoping to play more gigs in the future.”
Plant also signed a t-shirt which will be auctioned on eBay to raise more funds for the charity. Anyone wishing to make donations or to find out more about Pick’s Disease, can visit the Pick’s Disease Support Group website at pdsg.org.uk/
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