| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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she is addicted to thee she is the root connection she is connecting with he here I go and I don't know why I fell so ceaselessly could it be he's taking over me... I'm dancing barefoot heading for a spin some strange music draws me in makes me come on like some heroin/e Last night, I went to go see Patti Smith in concert. I'd never seen her before, and only really know a few of her songs, but from all I've heard, I expected a good show, and was not disappointed. The show was at the Mass Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA), in North Adams. North Adams is a depressed milltown in the northwest corner of the state, more accessible from Albany than from anywhere in Massachusetts. The Mass MoCA just opened this year, transforming a long vacant collection of factory buildings into a cutting edge museum. I didn't get to see the museum itself, but what I saw of the infrastructure was impressive. The lights in the parking lot are perched atop steel collumns, made of four vertical members and zigzagging cross pieces, kind of like a railroad trestle. The concert itself too place in a courtyard, surrounded by massive brick and stone buildings. I missed the opening band, Gloria Deluxe, and wandered around until Patti and her band took the stage. The stage itself was set with two vases of roses, and several candles. On a table near the drum riser were some books of poetry which Patti read from during the show. Patti Smith is an amazing performer. Her songs are so full of emotion, and performs with her whole body. During Dancing Barefoot, Patti lowered herself off of the stage into the crowd, then pulled herself back up, hand over hand, using her mic stand. She had a few unguarded moments, like when she told the audience to brush their teeth daily, "so when the revolution comes, you won't be caught with bad teeth." Or when the band started Because the Night, and Patti missed her cue; she brought the mic stand back about three feet, said "this is take two," and launched into the song. Patti played for over two hours. She ended the set with Gung Ho, the title track of her new album, a long piece, mixing singing and spoken word. By the time she started the song, it was nearly dark, and the clouds gave everything an ominous cast. Towards the end of the song, Patti was nearly whispering, and the band played a subdued backing. The only lighting were two blue lights from behind, and spots on Patti from the towers. As she ended the song, she led the band into The People Have the Power; the audience started chanting, and suddenly the lights came up, briefly illuminating the whoe audience. Patti and the band came back for a three song encore, ending with Gloria. As the audience danced and cheered and sang along, Patti tore the strings off of her guitar with her hands. She ended shortly after that, amid much applause. I managed to get right up by the stage, which was great, because I could watch Patti moving as she sang, and see the emotion in her face. By the time I left, my right ear was buzzing, and only stopped ringing sometime this afternoon. It was amazing that the rain held off during the show; on the way over, I drove through a storm. At one point, the rain was coming down so hard that I was afraid I'd have to pull over and wait it out, but I passed through that part of the storm after a few minutes. Late in the show, the stage lights highlighted a light drizzle that was falling, but I felt no raindrops on me. |
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Oh oh oh. Shut up, you philistine. |
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That's also how it is with Tori Amos, except for the opposite reason. She plays very well and some of her songs are pretty, but her lyrics are cringe-inducing and so I can't bear to hear her sing. I like when she does covers, though. |
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me? pffffft! |