AN EVENING WITH PATTI SMITH | LIVE REVIEW
****
Festival Of Voice, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 12 June
Following on from her intimate appearance at St. John’s Church, Patti Smith graced the rather more decadent space of the Wales Millennium Centre. From our report elsewhere on this site, it appears as if Patti played largely a similar set here as she did the previous night, albeit with less poetry and more music – which suited this troglodyte fine.
Playing with long-time collaborator Tony Shanahan and even longer-time collaborator Lenny Kaye, the trio took the stage and performed something close to a greatest hits sets – obligatory renderings of Because The Night and Gloria included – but with a few less obvious offerings too, such as the gorgeous Beneath The Southern Cross and Pissing In The River. Not exactly deep cuts, but certainly songs that probably don’t get an airing at every gig. Her voice was in fine condition, barely having aged a day since she first uttered the words “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine” on debut album Horses, and the performances throughout were earthy and strong.
Without a full band – Shanahan swaps between guitar, bass and piano, whilst Kaye remains a dutiful and excellent guitarhand to Patti’s swirling poetry – and shorn of the potentially full-throated rock’n’roll that is part of what makes this songwriter’s music so vital, it was always going to be interesting to see how the trio attempted to surpass that. In the event, they mostly tended towards the more low-key end of her back catalogue.
The last time this writer saw Patti Smith was with a full band in Hyde Park many many years ago (I must have been 15 or 16), and she spat into the audience within five minutes of getting onstage, a proper punk even in her 60s. No such antics here in the polite seated confines of the WMC, but Patti did wander offstage to dance amongst the audience whilst her bandmates performed a cover of Jim Carroll’s People Who Died, one of the all-time great three-chord punk songs.
More than anything, Patti Smith looked genuinely pleased to be here – she was completely relaxed and at ease, enjoying herself and playing around; the feel of someone who’s been doing this for a long, long time and still enjoying it. The end of the night saw a few more energetic performances, as she berated the audience to get the out of their seats – “I’m 71 fucking years old” she shouted, as we duly responded to sing along to Because the Night. A brilliant set.
words FEDOR TOT