July 5th 1995, Patti Smith at the Phoenix

 

I've admired and respected Patti Smith's work ever since the first time I heard "Horses" when I was a teen working in a suburban record store. Smith is an exceptional talent, a poet, a visionary, and in my mind she stands as one of the greatest songwriters of the last hundred years. Over the course of her career she's written some truly incredible songs along with poetry collections and books that speak to the same immense talent and gifts that she's displayed on album. Truly, Patti Smith is a wonder and a treasure.

The first time I saw Smith perform live was at a pair of concerts she played at the Phoenix in 1995, a return to the stage following an extended break from performing lasting fifteen years. I was lucky enough to get a single ticket for the first show of the evening and a pair for my friend Ewa and I for the second, and both sets were revelatory, amazing, absolutely incredible. Throughout the evening Smith made a number of comments about being nervous and about being out of practice, but there was really nothing to be worried about, she and the band were in fine form, performing with an energy and vitality that few artists I've seen since have been able to compare to. Smith and her band were incendiary that night, a triumphant return that heralded a new era in her work and solidified her reputation as one of the greats.

Over two sets she played Because the Night and Dancing Barefoot. She read poetry, including a dramatic reading of Piss Factory and some new work that she had been working on at the time. She played The Jackson Song and People Have the Power from her 1988 album "Dream of Life", songs that she had written with her late husband Fred Smith while the two of them raised their family in Michigan, a pair of live debuts that exemplified a shift in direction in her work that continues on to this day. It was a fantastic set list, acknowledging Smith's past, present, and future as an artist, and I'm so grateful that Ewa and I got to see it.

When people ask me about my favorite shows over the years, Patti Smith at the Phoenix always comes to my mind. It was a pretty incredible night, an amazingly gifted performer rediscovering and transcending her artistry, a pair of shows that have left an indelible mark on my memory...