Led Zeppelin on Horlicks

I just got back from a weekend away, essentially to attend a concert in Cardiff. We got tickets to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and decided to make a long weekend of it.
The hotel was a stone's throw from the Millenium Stadium and apart from the fact that the room overlooked a railway yard, it was perfectly satisfactory for a single night stopover. The drive to Cardiff was fine and the city itself really very nice indeed. An afternoon in the sunshine was followed by a late afternoon in a "New Orleans" bar with a pleasant light meal and several pints of Welsh Bitter Beer. We could see the stadium from the bar so there was no urgency about getting there, and so fully sated and less than fully sober, we headed for the venue. Five minutes later we were outside the gates, and they were closed. The whole place was empty and tumbleweed rolled past us in the ominous silence.
A quick check on the tickets told us that the date was right, and then the truth dawned. Printed clearly on the tickets, which I had not actually seen up to this point, were the words - International Centre! It should have added in brackets, "not to be confused with the Millenium Stadium," however it didn't and we were in the wrong place. Fortunately Cardiff is not a huge place, and equally fortunate was the fact that the International centre was only a half mile away, and so we did make it with ample time to spare.
The several pints did take their toll however, and you know how it is, once the seal has broken, visits to the toilets before more and more frequent. At big events like this the toilets are always busy and a full bladder has a way of distracting one from anything else, so in the run up to the off, the route to the watering hole became quite familiar. Not to self - before next gig, no drinking. That one IS at the Millenium Stadium and we could be miles from relief!
Anyway, the warm up band, were i am sure very good, but unknown and no-one seemed to pay them much attention. In fact the bars seemed pretty full throughout their performance. Eventually - much much later, bladder nicely empty, the concert started.
A word first about Alison Krauss. She has an amazing voice and is very talented on the violin. She commands the stage through her music, but seems to have no stage presence. I am sure that she has personality, but it does not shine through and she seemed to have no real connection to the audience. That was left to Robert Plant. The old Rocker has lost nothing apart from his mobility. It was a little like Led Zeppelin on Horlicks. He had the moves, but they were a little slow and tentative, while his voice was maintained in 2nd gear most of the evening. He seemed very restrained and I felt that he was itching to burst out. No I am not referring to his trousers, though they were of course as tight as ever. Glad to say that his shirt was ample and loose.
The performance was wonderful, and the band exceptional and the standing ovation was well deserved.
We emerged, lifted and inspired, into the night and were immediately soaked by the predictable Welsh downpour. However, it was worth it and i look forward to next month and Bruce Springsteen.