On “Raising Sand" (Rounder), the spooky, beautiful album they released last year, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss tilt toward each other from starkly different vantage points: heat-blistered arena rock (his) and coolly plaintive bluegrass (hers). Their material, scouted out by the producer T Bone Burnett, mines a deep, dark region of Americana somewhat familiar to them both. But their chemistry springs partly from contrast; even the most harmonious moments convey a subtle, fruitful tension.
Mr. Plant and Ms. Krauss approached common ground more literally at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, the first of two concerts there. Taking the stage from opposite wings, each assumed a stalking gait, like cartoon predators. Their pace had a parallel in “Rich Woman," the R&B throwback that also opens the album. There was casual symmetry in their height and black attire, and in their flaxen manes.
“Welcome to the Raising Sand Revue," Mr. Plant said after that song, summing up a basic truth about this tour. While plainly inspired by the album, it takes welcome liberties with repertory and tone. Mr. Burnett, leading a band of aces, including the drummer Jay Bellerose and the guitarist Buddy Miller, keeps the momentum crisp. The set list doesn't appear to change much from night to night, which doesn't suggest a lack of imagination so much as a sturdy formula. It's working mightily, judging by Tuesday's results.
(Robert Plant and Alison Krauss perform on Friday at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., and Saturday at the Asheville Civic Center in North Carolina.)
