Patti Smith / Steve Earle / Carolyn Striho - 19 June 2005

[Andrew F Wilson <andrewfwilson>]

Patti Smith/Steve Earle

Royal Festival Hall, London
by Adam Sweeting
The Guardian, Tuesday, 21 June 2005

When Patti Smith held up a small green toy called Gumby and started
making it speak to us in a squeaky ventriloquist's voice, there was a
fleeting moment of fear that she had finally left the planet
altogether - but most of the time, this performance was a storming
affirmation of her faith in art, poetry and the inspirational power of
rock'n'roll. Surrounded by some of her longest-standing allies,
notably guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty from the
original Patti Smith Group, she delivered a cutting performance of
some of her most visionary material, surfing on the band's rolling
barrage of climaxes and crescendos.

A cover of Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone made a slightly laborious
opener to the gig, part of the Meltdown festival. But Smith hit her
stride with Dancing Barefoot, shimmering lithely while the band slowly
stoked up the pressure. Sitting quietly at the rear of the stage, Tom
Verlaine chipped out the first of several cunningly wrought guitar
solos.

The band's rapport with Smith was evident in their ability to change
gear from impressionistic colourings to intensely focused climaxes,
matching the shifting rhythms of her lyrics. During the sequence of
songs that ran from Beneath the Southern Cross through Ain't It
Strange to Gandhi, the ensemble seemed to be telepathically sharing
the same space; Smith then returned them gently to earth with
Peaceable Kingdom, dedicated to casualties of the Iraq war.

Steve Earle provided the evening's polar opposite. In the first half,
he delivered an acoustic set that brusquely hacked chunks out of the
various phases of his career, from oldies such as The Devil's Right
Hand and Someday to the recent Rich Man's War or the incongru
ously "poetical" Warrior. Later, he joined Smith's band for some
encores, relishing the beefy ensemble arrangements of Transcendental
Blues and the hillbilly hoedown of Copperhead Road.

Smith had subtitled the show Salt of the Earth, so they all joined
together to sing the Rolling Stones song of the same name. It's hard
to believe the Stones ever gave a toss about "the hard-working
people", but maybe the tune found its rightful owners tonight.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,,1511004,00.html