The first time I saw Patti Smith in concert was an absolute revelation.
Reading from an over-sized bible at a makeshift lectern at that 1979 concert, Patti literally screamed the lyrics about "how I don't fuck with the past, but I fuck plenty with the future," from her song "Rock And Roll Nigger" from her manufactured pulpit on that stage.
And I sat there absolutely transfixed by it all.
I've seen Patti Smith live several times since, but nothing has ever matched the power I felt on that particular night. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but there was something absolutely transcendent about her performance on that night.
Like I said, I can't exactly figure out what it was about her. But it definitely had something to do with the words. They were quite intellectual to begin with, yet at the same time stripped to their most basic, guttural essentials. They were also quite profane, at least in the traditional Christian sense. Yet, they were also absolutely and undeniably spiritual.
As God is my witness, I could have married Patti Smith that night.
Tonight, hanging out at the bar across the street from the Showbox, where Patti Smith played here in Seattle, I actually had a chance encounter with her walking down the street on 1st Avenue as I stepped outside for a smoke. She was dressed in an oversized black coat, and loosely fitting blue jeans tucked into the brown cowboy boots she also wore. It was the exact same thing she wore onstage at the Showbox later that night.
Like I said, it was a chance encounter. And I didn't really know what to say other than a simple "hi Patti." A few minutes later of course, I happened to remember how much I would have loved to hear "Birdland" played live -- but the moment was gone.
And no, Patti Smith did not play "Birdland" in Seattle on this night.
But, outside of that, tonight's Patti Smith concert in Seattle was another of those transcendent experiences on more notes than I can really count here. For one thing, she did start out early with the great songs from her brilliant Horses album, nailing a great version of the song "Redondo Beach" right out of the gate.
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