Ελληνικά
There is no special introduction for that live, as I had the first impression of the show when I was already into the full club Piraeus Academy (I have not accepted yet that this is the name of the club and probably it will never be renamed). There, I realized that the atmosphere was so warm (metaphorically because of the people and literally because of the heat), as the crowd was waiting for something already familiar. The spectators there were of all ages, supposedly I am saying that because there were elder people. I had never seen her live before, so I felt a little bit awkward into that place and the fact that I have been listening to her songs at home since I was very young didn’t help me much. Moreover, when she came on stage, my fear was confirmed, as she was weaving her hands to the crowd as if she had known them from the past, while she was smiling with a childish kindness that reminded me of her naivety in her past interviews. That naivety could only be funny if someone thought of the meaning behind her words and the content of her lyrics.
There was a lot of heat, (I could even start smoking because of that, but it was prohibited in that hall by Patti Smith herself), but some ladies with fans helped me to deal with the temperature. So these were the conditions and as I had managed to relocate the two taller men of the crowd on my left and on my right and make some ladies behind them nag by saying, “why is he moving, he is too tall”, (girls stay calm, all the stadium is sloping, so it is easy for all to watch the stage, except for you that you are so unlucky to stand behind the tall guys, and it isn’t my turn that time to be unlucky), Gloria’ s introduction begun. There, everything was switched off. I realized why I was there, and especially I realized why all these people were there. But this is a thing that I will share with you later on.
In general, the voice of the “priestess” is in a very good condition. Maybe she has lost something of her more childish way of singing in the last parts of every musical phrase, that used to remind me of a girl’s shout. But she has stayed the same in the way she sings, and in the way she is dressed with these androgynous outfits, and also she has not given up on the rock n’ roll stage appearance which says “we came to dance and to break things apart”.
Gloria was a very good introduction. The show started flowing with Redondo Beach and in Birdland she wore her glasses and started reading her lyrics as if she had been a poet who was doing her job. Free Money brought us to the groove, Kimberly continued the program softly in order to give its turn to Break it Up. There, we were asked to free Morrison by singing all together “break it up, break it up”, (yeah, we also did that). When the song ended, Patti told us that “with one voice we created freedom”. So, there were the first hints. In Horses, the madness that was known to me since my adolescent years came in front of me, whereas in Elegie, we were asked to dedicate the song to all the artists that are missing but we still remember, as the song’s first aim was to commemorate Jimi Hendrix’ s death. We listened to many names, beginning from Morrison and Janis Joplin (there was a big applause in that last name) reaching Amy Winehouse, David Bowie and Prince. (Fortunately, she didn’ t mention anyone alive by mistake, neither did she tell us who will be the next one). Later, it was the time for her to make a break so the band started playing songs from Velvet Underground. Damn, how much fun it is to listen to those songs live! In the last part of the Medley, Patti came down to the crowd, greeting them and dancing. (She is 70 years old, she can do anything she wants, man!) As I have mentioned her age, I have to say that it is impressive how well she seems to feel with her body, meaning that she has a clear soul that is helping her to keep her body in a good condition. When she came again on stage, she sang Prince’ s When Doves Cry. How much this song fits to her lyrical voice! Pissing in the river was a song that stood out so much as I think she sings it so powerfully. On the other hand, she sang in a spontaneous and fickle way Because the Night that followed, as if her only purpose had been to go out at night and dance with her lover. People have the power was a song dedicated to us, as she said. The truth is that it makes me nervous thinking that in all lives in Athens artists tell us that we can cope with bad situations, meaning the political conditions, but I can accept this comment from a woman artist that represents a whole era during which most people believed in freedom. I don’ t mean that it is not correct what they tell us, but sometimes it makes me feel awkward. But this is not something to be analyzed at the moment. So, for encore, she chose My generation (Who cover), The Babelogue and Rock n’ Roll Nigger.
During the last part of her show, she continued telling us that “When things are difficult, don’ t give up, stay high, stay free”. Closing her performance, she took a fender guitar I think (as she loves that type of guitar), and after playing with it, in a way that she reminded us that yeah, it is me who brought Rolling Stones to a woman size – I say that_-she broke all its strings, but at last, she gave a kiss to the guitar’s neck.
To conclude, I can explain the reasons that people love Patti Smith. They love her because of her writings, her characteristic voice that is still there, they love her for what she is and where she has found herself chronologically and in which art circles she has been. But the attendance of so many people in 2016 for an artist that stays totally faithful to her music, without changing anything in what she has set as a style and what she truly is, needs something more in order to be explained.
So my sense is that Patti Smith represents a decade where what was said, had a meaning. Or at least, it was believed. When she was saying that “Jesus died for someone’ s sins but not mine”, she meant it. When she was saying “Let’s dream it, we’ll dream it for free, free money”, she meant it. That is why, if I was to demand something from the modern music world, (and from the air conditioning), I would say: 60’ s have passed, flowers have withered, the air is polluted, voices like Patti Smith are not found easily any more. At least, let’s say things that have a meaning. Or at least, let’s believe in the words we say. Amen. Or fuck it, let’s live in fairy tales.
Setlist
Gloria
Redondo Beach
Birdland
Free Money
Kimberly
Break it up
Land: Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances/ La Mer (De)/Gloria
Elegie
Rock & Roll/ I’m waiting for the Man / White Light/White Heat (Velvet Underground covers)
When Doves Cry (Prince cover)
Pissing in a River
Because the Night
People have the Power
Encore
My generation (The Who cover)/ Babelogue /Rock n’ Roll Nigger
