WORDS AND MUSIC WITH PATTI SMITH | LIVE REVIEW
Festival Of Voice, St John’s Church, Canton, Cardiff, Mon 11 June
The audience gather in the intimate setting of St John’s Church: some have been waiting from 2pm to get the best seats in the house, or for a chance to access a spare ticket from the 200 that quickly sold out. The church is lit beautifully, lights shining through the stained glass windows and complimentary colours gracing the stunning architecture of the building.
All eyes are on the altar of the church as Patti Smith appears with two of her band members to a minute-long round of applause. Quiet descends, Smith starts to speak and her opening reading transitions into a song, The New Jerusalem, protesting the Trump administration. The night takes on a pattern: a reading of a poem followed by a song. People hang on to her every word, in a manner ironically suitable in this venue. Smith, though, is lighthearted, joking with the audience in between her performance; talking about how the goal of an artist is to do good work for future artistic generations, rather than to worry about fame.
After another song Smith recites some poetry from 1970 about Georgia O’Keeffe, which brought chuckles from the audience, and 1973’s Dragnet, about the 1950s detective cop show. The lights turn to purple and orange; Smith goes on to talk about her late husband and his love for sports, before a story about the mystery of whisper and interpretation segues into her next song, a poem about lost love and the declaration to us present, “You will always remain my boyfriend”.
The emotion in the church is swelling, about to burst: cue one of her best known moments, Patti Smith Group’s Because The Night, delivered in a fashion that works beautifully with the acoustics here. The raucous applause – longer still than for that band’s entrance – prompts Smith to remark, “I should have recorded that to put on my next album!” With that excitement over, Smith recites a poem written just before her 71st birthday, about her parents and “the beaker of knowledge”.
The show closes with a rendition of Elvis’ Can’t Help Falling In Love: we sing along quietly to ourselves and sway with the music, Patti Smith and her two cohorts depart the stage, and we’re left to bask in the moment during a standing ovation. A unique concert for 200 lucky souls; a once in a lifetime experience.
words CORNELIA VAN RIJSWIJK photos JANIRE NAJERA