MINNEAPOLIS — Don’t know if they met privately for a cup of tea. Or maybe attended the other’s soundcheck.

British rock icons Robert Plant and Sting performed competing concerts across the street from one another in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday night.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are only three years apart in age (Plant, 78, started with Led Zeppelin in 1969; Sting, 75, co-founded the Police in 1979). But their concerts with relatively new bands were worlds apart.

Gigging with his 2-year-old trio, Sting relished reimagining his past with his bass and personality in the spotlight when I saw him on Tuesday, his first of sold-out two nights at the Orpheum Theatre. Plant, by contrast, looked to the future Wednesday at the State Theatre, exploring all kinds of folk, Americana and world music, mostly written by others.

The thing about Plant, who’s always been a bit of a musicologist, is that he never wants to stand pat, never wants to live in the past, always wants to be challenged and dive into new material or explore old songs in new ways.

Plant began working with this new outfit, Saving Grace, in 2019. COVID-19 and then his second collaboration album with Alison Krauss, “Raise the Roof” (2021), and their ensuing concert tour shelved Saving Grace until last year. That’s when the British collective finally released its eponymous debut album.

At the sold-out State Theatre, Plant and his five musicians played a few songs from “Saving Grace” as well as tunes from Plant’s various solo albums, though nothing from his Krauss projects. And, of course, Plant had to do five songs associated with Zeppelin to satisfy the fan boys who haven’t quite moved on.

It appeared that many concertgoers were not familiar with much of the material. It didn’t matter. This was one of the most enriching musical experiences of the year. As I overheard one fan afterward: “That was so much better than I imagined it would be.”

Indeed. It likely will rank among my Top 10 concerts for 2026. And it helped that Plant was in good spirits all night, making jokes, reacting to the crowd’s reaction and even dancing a bit to his own music. And if I heard him correctly, he dedicated his final song to Sting — “Everybody’s Song” by Low, the Duluth band.

Compared to Plant’s other recent bands: Officially billed as Robert Plant with Saving Grace featuring Suzi Dian, this ensemble feels like a true band, not some musicians hired for a tour. The front man accorded Dian more prominence as a soloist and harmony singer than he did with Krauss and Patty Griffin on their tours with him.

Suzi Dian (pronounced Dee-anne): The 30-something Brit demonstrated a sweet, warm voice with the ability to express heartache. She stood out on Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl.” As a harmony vocalist, she was superb, teaming with Plant and vocalist/instrumentalist Matt Worley in an arresting a cappella blend at the end of several songs, including “The Cuckoo” and “Everybody’s Song.” Dian’s accordion was an effective voice on a few numbers, particularly “Ramble On,” the first Zep piece of the night.

The band: Called a folk group by its front man, Saving Grace is an exceptional band. Cellist Barney Morse-Brown was responsible for the bass parts, usually playing his instrument with his fingers, not a bow. Drummer Oli Jefferson, who is married to Dian, was terrific, combining both force and nuance while performing much of the night with brushes.

Worley masterfully played acoustic guitar and banjo, coaxing a sitar sound on the latter instrument. Guitarist/mandolinist Tony Kelsey was a perfect fit for Plant’s repertoire, able to cover everything from Middle Eastern sounds to moody blues and soaring rock.

Plant’s voice: Wearing a black untucked shirt over black leather pants (not as tight as Sting’s), the golden god with a gray goatee and wavy over-the-collar blond/gray hair was a committed, enthusiastic vocalist. His hands were demonstrative at times, and he even danced in the dark opposite Dian, but it didn’t appear as if they were dancing together.

Plant can’t reach those volcanic Zep yelps of yore and doesn’t even try. But there was power and enough chills-producing howls to appease those who can’t accept that the voice doesn’t remain the same.

Led Zeppelin songs: The band ended in 1980, and Plant moved on to various solo projects as well as a duo effort with Zep guitarist Jimmy Page. But the singer still pulls out some Zep in concert to accommodate fans.

One-third of the 15 songs in the 95-minute concert came from Zeppelin’s catalog.

“Ramble On” had power, thanks to Plant’s less-than-full-throated yelps, but took on a Parisian hot jazz feel more so than the familiar blues-rock wallop.

“Friends” was framed by the sitar-sounding banjo while the reflective section of “Four Sticks” felt disconnected. Didn’t matter to the fans, who went bonkers, offering a standing ovation after every Zep number.

“Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” which Zeppelin learned from Joan Baez for its debut album, played out with soft and explosive passages, with plenty of vocal fire from Plant on this pre-encore finale.

The encore of “Going to California,” one of Zep’s most graceful songs, was given a graceful treatment, and fans were ecstatic.

Best banter: When introducing the traditional song “The Cuckoo,” Plant said, “It came from England, as all songs do. It’s a mystic song. We’ve never done it before … except on 360 shows on [this] tour.”

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