A Celebration of Patti Smith

People Have The Power, Carnegie Hall

“At this point in my life I get a lot of accolades. I get praise, I get in the newspapers, but that doesn’t make me feel any more present than being alone in the kitchen in Michigan writing, doing my work and then doing my domestic tasks.”
Patti Smith

Well, on Wednesday, March 26 at Carnegie Hall, a host of stars came to Patti’s ‘kitchen’ to form the cast of ‘A Celebration of Patti Smith’ and deliver the biggest accolade of all by performing her finest works.

Now, as a former music journalist, I have seen a lot of special events and concerts but this evening had an impact that remains with me several days later. You know the kind of moments where you wish you could go back in time and relive it.

I decided to opt out of the rehearsal show at City Winery the previous night as I wanted to be surprised on the evening. Of course, like a kid before Christmas, I couldn’t help but peel back the wrapper on a few videos that were posted the next morning from the pre-show. Nevertheless the excitement on the day was comparable to Christmas Eve through the eyes of a child. I was taking my friend Colette to the show as a pre-birthday gift, and I had everything planned like a military operation to ensure we were there early enough to meet some friends in the audience. One of them was Phillip Ward, who was a friend and assistant to Quentin Crisp during his lifetime in NYC, as well as being an author, archivist, and curator at Crisperanto (the Quentin Crisp Archives).

With Colette Nelson and Phillip Ward

But before I give you an account of the show itself, let me just say that Patti’s influence as an artist stretches across the globe and transcends genre. I could try and stick a label on her brand of artistry but it would fall to the ground as she simply cannot be labelled. Likewise, the number of people whose lives she has influenced both in and out of the music world is astronomical. Just recently, I put up a clip from Saturday Night Live featuring her first appearance singing Gloria in 1976. Hundreds of people responded to that post, and some shared their journey with her music and where they were when they first saw that guest appearance.

Many have followed Patti for decades, but even for those recent converts, her impact has been substantial. like

Mindy

for example who told me, “listening to Patti talk about poetry and read poetry has inspired me to write my first 2 poems in 45 years. For that, I will alway be thankful! And there's more. I love Patti's books (especially Just Kids and M Train). I also love her book recommendations on Substack. My world of story has been forever enlightened.”

Yes, can we take yet another detour to say just how important

Patti Smith

Substack community has become? In these crazy times, it is a place of refuge, a sanctuary from our troubled world, where we can feel free to share the sometimes mundane but more often than not important things we are doing with our lives DESPITE everything.

Okay, the concert….

The awe-inspiring, legendary Carnegie Hall was such a fitting location for a tribute to not just a pioneer, a trailblazer, and a legend but also a wonderful human being. Patti Smith is so many things to so many people, but for Patti, she is always just “doing her work,” and what amazing work she does! From the show opener Jesse Mallin through to the finale featuring Patti and all of tonight’s guests, this show created memories that will forever be etched in the minds and hearts of the attendees. Standing ovation after standing ovation greeted the performers of some of Patti's vast catalogue of work. Standouts for me were the incredible Karen O belting out crowd-pleaser ‘Gloria’ and Maggie Rogers delivering a truly stellar version of ‘Frederick’. Oh, and let’s not forget The Kills, Alison Mosshart with her high-energy version of ‘Ask The Angels’. Michael Stipe was joined by Jesse Paris Smith for a great version of Blakean Years, and a group of young musicians called Music Will performed ‘Paths That Cross’ from the excellent Dream Of Life album. Sharon Van Etten also delivered a rousing ‘Pissing in The River” from ‘Radio Ethiopia”

The surprise of the evening (well for most audience members) was Johhny Depp, who joined Alison Mosshart for ‘Dancing Barefoot’ …and then, of course, Bruce closed out the guest slot with, what else, ‘Because The Night’. Patti then joined the proceedings to an earth-shattering roar from the crowd with the entire Carnegie Hall on their feet for “Pray Humanity”. “Peaceable Kingdom” and the grand finale with everyone on stage for ‘People Have The Power’. Epic, Epic, Epic, says excitable me. truly memorable event for the history books, says journalist me. :)

However, at the end of the day, words are just words, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot possibly convey in words the excellence of ALL the performances of this electrifying evening.

For me, this was another Live Aid experience. Something you attented and still speak of today. Now I doubt I will be around in 40 years time to still be talking about this event but I can guarantee I will be talking about it for as long as I draw breath in this dimension.

Substacker Mindy asked me to add the words, “Patti, your light will forever shine” and shine on, and on, and on it will!

Eagerly awaiting the Horses tour, meanwhile here are some pics from the evening and some links to YouTube videos I found to be the best. Patti Has The Power!!!

Karen O Gloria

Alison Mosshart Ask The Angels

Jesse Malin Free Money

Michael Stipe, Jesse Paris Smith

Johnny Depp, Alison Mosshart

Bruce Springsteen

Sharon Van Etten

Maggie Rogers

People Have The Power