Patti At the Roxy

[<braeniac>]

We arrived around 6:30 and waited in line until the doors opened at 8. Staked out a spot about 6 feet from center stage. Patti came on just past 9 with Jackson, Tony, Jay Dee and Lenny. Patti was wearing a plum colored long sleeved blouse under a black suit coat and jeans tucked into brown cowboy boots. Her hair was stylishly tousled in bohemian style. She looked radiant!

They opened with Everybody Wants To Rule the World. They also did Redondo Beach, Changing of the Guard, Boy In the Bubble, Free Money, Within You Without You and Are you Experienced. She told a story about getting up early that morning and going for a walk on the sunset strip where she encountered 2 different people walking white rabbits on leashes. She said that it was a sign telling her what song NOT to do. She also told a hilarious story about staying up until midnight when she was a teen waiting to hear Sgt. Pepper for the first time. Her father came down in his underwear to yell at her to "turn that shit off!"

The first set was excellent. We were right in front of Patti, one person back. We were squashed like sardines in a sweaty can. It was very hot. Patti joked about the amount of words she had to learn and did a funny countdown of the verses during Changing of the Guards. She got it nearly perfect. Boy in the Bubble was great too. she and the band really nailed it. Free Money rocked. She pulled out the clarinet for Are you Experienced. I thought that all the live versions surpassed the studio ones. I find this generally true with all her records though. Lenny was fluid and tasty. Tony and Jay Dee were locked in. Jackson seemed a bit tentative, but let loose with some nice solos. Patti was relaxed and in a great mood. She also referred to the Harvard paper's review of Twelve. The writer called her a moron. She was bemused. She joked about the album being referred to as karaoke. "After 30 years of bad singing she finally sings all the words in tune and they call it karaoke!" At this point she and the band took a 20 minute break. This was a mistake. They had built up some great momentum and stopping really killed the energy. the crowd got restless during the break and more people tried to crash up front. This got the people that had been there since the beginning angry and the mood changed from one of community to one of being protective of our space. There was a lot of pushing going on. I just turned 50 a few weeks ago and really don't need this kind of crap any more.

The 2nd set was a mess. She opened with a nice version of Helpless and the ubiquitous Beneath the Southern Cross, but it fell apart after that,  they did a stirring version of Pissing In A River. It seemed that Patti kind of ran out of gas. Midnight Rider was bland with an uninspired solo from Jackson and Smells Like Teen Spirit, which I was most hoping for, was a disaster. After coming through on the lyrically dense Dylan and Simon tunes she completely flubbed the words to the simpler Nirvana song. They did a version of Lou Reed's Perfect Day, a song that I love, and it was just OK. All this being said, only Patti could screw up so badly and still be great, captivating and entertaining. And she was. Hopefully, they'll iron out most of the kinks for the tour. She said that this show was a warm up show several times. She rallied for a set ending Rock and roll Ni**er.

The encores were generally much better. An excellent version of Soul Kitchen led into Everybody Hurts, which she again failed to get the lyrics together for. It was still charming as only Patti could make it. They closed with a rousing version of Gloria and that was it. I guess you could characterize the show as one of ragged brilliance. Patti is still that unique performer that makes everyone in the room feel connected to her. Unfortunately, there were times when that connection didn't extend to each other in the crowd. I really think that they shouldn't have taken the break. It changed the dynamic completely for the worse. The shows in Europe probably won't have this problem and I'm sure that more rehearsal time will tighten the new songs up considerably. I know that remembering lyrics has never been one of Patti's strengths and learning an albums worth of cover tunes is a particular challenge.

That being said, every chance to see Patti and the guys live is a chance not to be missed. I'm very glad we went, though at times it felt more like we survived it instead.

Phil