patti smith reviews Drum
Logos, Japan (July 2003)
By "pastis" 
Patti Smith's performance Sunday night at Fukuoka's Drum Logos
Hall (capacity: 700, all standing) proved that almost thirty years after "Horses,"
her music remains as fresh as ever. Backed up by a solid crew of musicians including
lanky longtime collaborator Lenny Kaye, Smith reaffirmed that she still rock and
rolls with the best of them. This was the first chance that I had to see her perform
live, having missed her previous visit to Japan about five years ago. In recent
years, she has performed in the Fuji Rock Festival in northern Japan, but on this
particular tour, she made the trip down to Fukuoka, some three hours by bullet
train south of Osaka. I was amazed at the intensity with which
she sang, thin and frail-looking as she appears on the surface. Some songs run
six, seven minutes, starting slowly and climaxing in a frenzy (most notably the
delightfully cacophonous 25th Floor, which found Smith plowing into an electric
guitar and taking to the strings at one point with her mike stand (no joke!).)
But even more significantly, her voice remains as full and lush as ever, and when
necessary she still employs an arsenal of angry, defiant, gravelly or mellifluous
voices to full effect. With Smith selecting some choice cuts
from her compilation album "Land," there is enough breadth in the set
list (which apparently changes from night to night, according to an interview
she did for the English daily Daily Yomiuri) to satisfy those who have known her
since Horses (as in my case) and also those who know her from her more recent
work. For many of the Japanese fans present on Sunday, "Because the Night"
(covered by the Japanese singer UA) and the anthem "People Have the Power"
were serious crowd-pleasers. Smith and the band began the
show with a scintillating rendition of Glitter in Their Eyes, kaleidoscopic colors
orbiting on the screen behind them. This song marked a spectacular beginning to
what was to be a set lasting almost two hours. The crowd listened intently to
some of Smith's less-known work, such as the elegaic "Southern Cross"
or "1959" but Smith's deft juxtaposition of slower songs with upbeat
numbers made sure the pacing of her performance never lagged. Several
points to watch for during the set include an upbeat rendition of "Redondo
Beach," the growling vocals on "Dead City," the melodious "Frederick,"
and the anguished "Pissing in a River." I was worried that Smith would
close her main set with "People Have the Power," not one of my favorite
tracks, but against expectations she sang an impassioned Gloria which brought
down the curtains on the opening set. Unfortunately I was
unable to listen to the encore, but other shows have had her performing "Rock
N' Roll Nigger" and readings from some of her other work. Photo
by Steven Sebring |
