(Venice, Italy) The first time I saw Patti Smith perform was a bit more than 35 years ago, just when she was becoming THE Patti Smith. I was in my late teens and it was in New Jersey, at a college like William Paterson or Fairleigh Dickerson.
[UPDATE - December 30, 2021 on Patti Smith's 75th birthday: The venue was actually The Meadowbrook on Route 23 in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and it was on January 13, 1976 at 8:00 PM, so I was 20-years-old. I know this because I still have the ticket for $5.25 -- which I did not have when I originally wrote this post in 2010. I went to the concert with my friend, Paula. We were both married at the time -- getting married young was a typical New Jersey thing to do back then. Patti Smith was 29 and had grown up in NJ, and had escaped to Manhattan. She had just released Horses, her first album, the year before.]
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| Patti Smith concert ticket from The Meadowbrook, NJ - January 13, 1976 |
Her energy gave me such a buzz that I wanted to jump on stage and invite her home with me. Horses was the most brilliant album by a female I had ever heard, and she became my hero.
Back then, she and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were the daredevils of New York, leaving a trail of broken rules and codes of conduct behind them. It was a time when artists were allowed to do their jobs and force the population, by shock if necessary, to WAKE UP.
From Wikipedia:
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 début album Horses.[1] Called the "Godmother of Punk",[2] she integrated the beat poetry performance style with three-chord rock. Smith's most widely known song is "Because the Night", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978.[1] In 2005, Patti Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture,[3] and in 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[4]
Now Patti Smith is 63-years-old, and her energy remains the same, only more refined. Last night in Piazza San Marco she was the High Priestess leading her people in song. I was surprised to see how many young Italian fans she had, both male and female, and how they knew all the words! Young Italians, filled with emotion, singing along to the words of an American poetess.
She wore a tee-shirt with the image of a skull under her traditional jacket, and started off with some good ones -- "Redondo Beach," "Money." The energy level was high quality, and a clump of kids from the audience in the back ran up to be close to the stage, and I went with them.
The stage at Piazza San Marco is set way back from the first row of seats, so that the performer is not close to the audience. (Last week Norah Jones kept saying, "You're so far away! You're so far away!") But Patti Smith is an old pro and knows how to use her magic to move her people.
At first security would not let anyone get close, but then during "Dancing Barefoot" Patti signaled deftly, subtly with her hands, and everyone moved in, so close that she could touch her fans if she wanted to, and she did. She balanced the night perfectly, with old and new, spoken word and song.
She indicated the Basilica at the other end of the square, and dedicated a song to Papa Luciano, or Pope John Paul I, who was the Patriarch of Venice before he became Pope and died after only 33 days -- and then she kicked right into "Gloria."
Since this was a concert for EMERGENCY, just what is the emergency? From Emergency's website:
In today’s conflicts 90% of victims are civilians.
Every year war destroys the lives of millions of people around the world.
Emergency is an independent and neutral Italian organization founded in order to provide free, high quality medical and surgical treatment to the civilian victims of war, landmines and poverty.
Emergency promotes a culture of solidarity, peace and respect for human rights.
The work of Emergency around the world is possible thanks to the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters.
That is a very scary statistic. NINETY PERCENT OF THE VICTIMS IN TODAY'S CONFLICTS ARE CIVILIANS??? That sounds like some mighty sloppy shooting! Click here to go to Emergency's website:
Patti Smith put on one of the best concerts I have been to in years. It felt like no time had passed since the first time I saw her 35 years ago, and it made me long to be surrounded once again by kindred spirits.
And I am homesick
After mine own kind that know, and feel
And have some breath for beauty and the arts.
---Ezra Pound
The first time I saw Patti Smith perform was a bit more than 35 years ago, just when she was becoming Patti Smith. I was in my late teens and it was in New Jersey, at a college like William Paterson or Fairleigh Dickerson. Her energy gave me such a buzz that I wanted to jump on stage and invite her home with me. Horses was the most brilliant album by a female I had ever heard, and she became my hero.
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