patti smith reviews

Bowery Ballroom, New York, December 29th & 30th 2003
By Ray Beiersdorfer

I just returned to Ohio from NYC. My wife and I saw the 29th and 30th shows. I didn't take notes but I want to share a few of my memories. I apologize in advance for not having an organized "play-by-play." Each night's set was around 2 hours long. The 29th was great and the 30th was even better. It was an awesome show. On both nights, Patti played several new songs from her forthcoming album. There was a rocker called "stride of the mind" that included a line "i'm not a sufi but I'll give it a whirl." Another song was dedicated to her daughter Jessie. It was a beautiful song and unfortunately that's when the fight broke out near the stage. It was right in front of me and fortunately didn't go beyond some name calling and a little pushing. Patti, ever the Mom, got involved, first by saying something like "we're having an Altamont moment" to then telling the instigator to "cool it." She played "Gandhi, Gandhi" and "In my Blakeian World" on both nights. The 29th show ended with the 25th floor as the encore. She played that song earlier in the set on the 30th with Ivan Kral as special guest. Ivan came back out to help with salt of the earth, a cover of the rollings stones song that Patti played both nights.

Patti introduced "because the night" on the 29th by sharing a story about hearing that song on the radio this past summer as she was drinking a cup of coffee in the "Sigmund Freud cafe" in Vienna. Unfortunately it was the Natalie Merchant version. On the 30th she introduced it by mentioning that both composers are now united as Columbia artists. I love because the night. I was at the CBGB's theater (not the club) on December 30th, 1977 when Bruce joined Patti on stage to premier the song, before it was even released. I saw Bruce rock Shea Stadium (NYC) with the song this past October praying (even though I'm a hardcore atheist) for Patti to join him on stage. I am so wishing to see the two of them perform because the night together live on stage.

The encore on the 30th was Rock and Roll Nigger. She was joined by Jackson on stage half way through the song and Patti presented him with the guitar she was playing. Jackson played some fantastic solos. Patti read from Howl. The song ended with Patti ripping out the strings of the guitar strung across Jackson's chest.

Patti didn't tell any jokes but she did read from the authorized biography of Gumby, which was hilarious.

I thought Back in Spades were great. The guitar playing and drumming were great. The vocals were a little hard to understand. The band members all came out on the floor after Patti's set to talk to people and sign CDs.