I could write a 10,000 word essay on last night's Patti Smith show in Cambridge and still not come anywhere close to the width and depth of what that experience was all about. The mad thing is that it’s probably like this every night when Smith and her multitasking power trio hit the stage.
She’s the one, the link to so much of the mystical and often mythical greatness which we keep seeking all these decades on. Not only was she there, but she was the one in the frame, the one in the thick of the action. That’s why she can do what she still does and it all adds up.
She reads an Allen Ginsberg poem, she talks about Jeff Buckley crying face down on a sofa in Electric Lady studio, she dedicates a song to Johnny Depp. She talks about her walk around Cambridge, the murder of kids in Texas, what she had for her dinner. It’s stuff which doesn’t make sense on a list but which all makes sense on the night.
Time and time again, I caught myself going 'what the heck does that sound remind me of?’ You swing thru’ the names and realise with a bit of a start that it actually reminds you of Patti f**king Smith and she’s right there onstage.
There’s a great J Mascis line from yonks back which I always remember when you get to see someone like Smith still raging against the machine. He was telling me at the start of an interview that he was just back from seeing Frank Sinatra in Amsterdam. "You have to see ‘em all", he mumbled, "have to see the Stones and Frank and all the greats".
Patti Smith sings People Have The Power in New York in 2019
Patti f**king Smith is definitely and defiantly still one of the greats, still burning bright. This was a daft night to make you glad you’re still around to appreciate her shake, rattle and roll. A blast of a night to make you glad you somehow made it through the chaos of Dublin airport earlier in the day.
A night out-out with the real wild one.
