another Patti BAM review

[Phil Grabar <pgrabar>]

Rock Icon Patti Smith Still at top of Her Form

By Frank Scheck

That Patti Smith has evolved from punk pioneer to rock legend was 
made obvious by the location of this 30th anniversary performance of 
her groundbreaking and recently re-released album "Horses." Rather 
than in a club like CBGB or one of its larger equivalents, the show 
was presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Opera House, a venue 
more frequently inhabited by the likes of the Royal Shakespeare 
Company and the Mark Morris Dance Company.

The performance well demonstrated that though she is pushing 60 and 
sports gray hair instead of black, Smith has lost none of her 
ferocious power. From the first line of the famous album opener 
"Gloria" -- "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" -- to the 
mournful closing notes of "Elegie," she and her band delivered a 
performance of blazing intensity that actually managed to outshine 
the original.

Clad in similar style to the album cover photo of her shot by Robert 
Mapplethorpe, Smith both re-created and expanded upon the music. 
Original Patti Smith Group members Lenny Kaye (guitar) and Jay Dee 
Daugherty (drums) were augmented by Television guitarist Tom 
Verlaine, Tony Shanahan on keyboards and typically energetic bassist 
Flea, who also contributed an impressive trumpet solo to "Elegie."

 From its use of spoken-word poetry and excerpts from rock classics 
to its prefiguring of new wave and punk, "Horses" displayed a 
stylistic breadth and imagination that was perfectly conveyed here. 
And though Smith might be at the age where she has to reach for her 
glasses before delivering some of the denser lyrical material (a 
gesture that amusingly garnered cheers from the largely boomer 
crowd), she had no difficulty recapturing the music's manic energy.

After the formal delivery of the album in its entirety, Smith and 
company rewarded the audience with a lengthy second segment featuring 
impassioned renditions of such classics as "Southern Cross," "Because 
the Night," "Dancing Barefoot" and "Rock and Roll Nigger." The 
performances well justified a well-timed outburst from one irate 
patron: "They should have put you in the hall of fame, Patti!"

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.8/184 - Release Date: 11/27/2005