Needing no introduction, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss walked toward each other from opposite sides of the stage, clasped hands when they met in the middle and launched into “Rich Woman.”

This was the first of 17 selections the duo culled from 2007’s Raising Sand and 2021’s Raise the Roof – plus a few smartly reimagined Led Zeppelin numbers – for their May 3, summer-season opener at Rose Music Center at the Heights in Huber Heights, Ohio. But the first night of summer was “really fucking cold,” as Plant, with a denim jacket over a fat hoodie, put it while Krauss stood beside him with her hands pulled up into the sleeves of her heavy winter coat. 

“Welcome to Norway,” the maracas-playing Plant said to the sold-out house that remained standing throughout the 90-minute, low-ember-glow of a performance. 

Fifteen years have passed since Plant and Krauss first hit the road in 2008. And while the 2023 edition is not the all-timer of their maiden voyage, this show is already assured to be among the highlights of what’s looking to be the busiest live-music year since 2019.

The air was arctic, but the music was like a warm fire as drummer Jay Bellerose, employing mallets, sticks, shakers and tambourine on his kit; double bassist Dennis Crouch; multi-instrumentalists Viktor Krauss (Alison’s sister) switching between guitar and piano and Stuart Duncan alternating between guitar, mandolin and violin; and guitarist JD McPherson stoked the flickering flame. 

The latter pulled double duty, opening the night with a pre-darkness, “quick, efficient, (3)0-minute rock ‘n’ roll set” that mixed originals and such covers as Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” into a blend of 1950s rockabilly with sax and 1970s, guitar-based rock. 

Plant and Krauss went back further, setting songs like “Fortune Teller,” “Trouble with My Lover,” “Please Read the Letter,” and the show-closing twofer of “Gone Gone Gone” and “Can’t Let Go” in hazy, swirling arrangements that evoked misty sounds of bygone eras as the low-key music wafted through vintage amplifies and microphones.

Long reluctant to revisit his past, Plant transformed “Rock and Roll” into a country rocker built upon Duncan’s violin. He and Krauss would play twin lines on a dark, moody version of “When the Levee Breaks.” Its bright, sonic anthesis, the slowed-by-half “The Battle of Evermore,” sparkled on Duncan’s mandolin as Krauss subbed in for Sandy Denny on vocals. 

Plant seemed genuinely impressed by the band as he repeatedly turned a s gestured toward the musicians and remarked “it sounds fucking great up here” to cheers of agreement. 

Meanwhile the stage, with lighting and beige and white curtains that gave the outdoor shed the ambiance of an indoor theater, bolstered the aural illusion of warmth. Plant repeatedly sticking his hands in his pockets to access hand warmers and Krauss, who didn’t speak beyond introducing her partner, presumably in an effort to protect her angelic voice, reminded concertgoers why they were in winter coats and hats.

Despite the ice blocks where their feet used to be as the show ended in darkness under a nearly full moon just past 10 p.m., fans undoubtedly left with a warm feeling after this special concert.