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For the last eighteen Years, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has put on a benefit concert. They heard that Patti Smith was going to be on tour this year, so they asked her to do this year's show. It was at the Park West Theater. Cyn and I took her sister, Melissa, who's been a big fan for a lot longer than I have. She'd never seen Patti before. We got there pretty early, and were near the stage, just left of center. I always forget that at these shows with a lot of old people, you don't have to arrive early to get to stand near the stage, though I was a little annoyed at some of the old people pushing in front of us when the show started.
The opening act was a band of high school kids, Troubled Identity. I'm not sure how they landed the gig, but they donated $5000 to the cause. They were pretty good. No stylistic connection to Patti's work, but they didn't clash, so we're good. ;-)
After they played, there was a benefit auction. They auctioned a stay at a posh New York Hotel, and a photo safari in Africa. We have plans to go to New York soon, but the price tag of that one quickly escalated out of range. The safari was more tempting, as it went for about half of what it was worth, but it was still expensive, and it didn't include air fare. And Cyn only has so much vacation time. They did a framed, autographed copy of Springsteen's Nebraska, and Bono's autograph on the single for "I Will Follow". I think those went for way under street value, but I have no resources to turn them around, so no bids from me.
So then Patti and her band came on. She seemed to be having some technical difficultly, as she went over for a chat with the sound person after the first song, but I couldn't tell what it was. The vocals were kinda lost during the opening act, but everything sounded great for Patti's set. She also seemed a little odd, early in the set. Confused? High? A little different than usual, anyway. By the middle of her set, she seemed pretty much like herself, maybe smoother than usual. She had the usual banter with the audience, though she was pretty nice to people. Or maybe that's because the audience was nice to her. Someone shouted that she looked just like her kindergarten picture (in her new book). She smiled and said she felt that way too. Then she said that it was really her bible school picture and that she skipped kindergarten. She was kicked out for reading. A few times, her stories went on a little long, and Tony would start the song.
The band included Lenny Kaye on guitars and backing vocals, "Jimmy the Hat" on guitar, Tony Shanahan on keyboards, bass and backing vocals, and J.D. Daugherty on drums. Jimmy or Lenny played bass when Tony was on the keyboard. Patti played her acoustic a couple of times.
They started off rather low key. I can't remember what the opening song was, but it wasn't a rocker. Was it "Lo and Beholden"? I think second was "Redondo Beach", and I'm pretty sure third was "Free Money". That was the first one where the band really got rocking. Lenny opened that one with a very nice, mellow solo. A little ways into the show, Patti got her acoustic, and strummed a little song about her parents in Chicago. It sounded like she penned it that afternoon. She told of how poor her parents were. And how her father, Grant, walked through Grant Park, pretending it was named for him. And how her father took her mother to Grant Hospital, again pretending it was named for him. And there, Patti was born. That was a lead-in to "My Blakean Year". Other songs included "Mother Rose" (written for her mother, by her and Tony), "Lo and Beholden", "Beneath the Southern Cross", "Wing", "People Have the Power", "Dancing Barefoot", "Because the Night" and "Pissing In A River".
Lenny's pick for garage rock classic was "People Who Died". He and Tony traded verses. Patti introduced the song, saying that the Jim Carroll (who died last September) was "the greatest poet of our generation." The other cover for the night was The Ojays's "Love Train". Patti said they were gonna fuck it up. :-) After that was their finale, "Gloria". If you've ever heard the song, you know the energy involved. The audience goes wild, and it's not just appreciation for the song - everybody dances.
My man Lenny, probably during "Gloria".
The opening act was a band of high school kids, Troubled Identity. I'm not sure how they landed the gig, but they donated $5000 to the cause. They were pretty good. No stylistic connection to Patti's work, but they didn't clash, so we're good. ;-)
After they played, there was a benefit auction. They auctioned a stay at a posh New York Hotel, and a photo safari in Africa. We have plans to go to New York soon, but the price tag of that one quickly escalated out of range. The safari was more tempting, as it went for about half of what it was worth, but it was still expensive, and it didn't include air fare. And Cyn only has so much vacation time. They did a framed, autographed copy of Springsteen's Nebraska, and Bono's autograph on the single for "I Will Follow". I think those went for way under street value, but I have no resources to turn them around, so no bids from me.
So then Patti and her band came on. She seemed to be having some technical difficultly, as she went over for a chat with the sound person after the first song, but I couldn't tell what it was. The vocals were kinda lost during the opening act, but everything sounded great for Patti's set. She also seemed a little odd, early in the set. Confused? High? A little different than usual, anyway. By the middle of her set, she seemed pretty much like herself, maybe smoother than usual. She had the usual banter with the audience, though she was pretty nice to people. Or maybe that's because the audience was nice to her. Someone shouted that she looked just like her kindergarten picture (in her new book). She smiled and said she felt that way too. Then she said that it was really her bible school picture and that she skipped kindergarten. She was kicked out for reading. A few times, her stories went on a little long, and Tony would start the song.
The band included Lenny Kaye on guitars and backing vocals, "Jimmy the Hat" on guitar, Tony Shanahan on keyboards, bass and backing vocals, and J.D. Daugherty on drums. Jimmy or Lenny played bass when Tony was on the keyboard. Patti played her acoustic a couple of times.
They started off rather low key. I can't remember what the opening song was, but it wasn't a rocker. Was it "Lo and Beholden"? I think second was "Redondo Beach", and I'm pretty sure third was "Free Money". That was the first one where the band really got rocking. Lenny opened that one with a very nice, mellow solo. A little ways into the show, Patti got her acoustic, and strummed a little song about her parents in Chicago. It sounded like she penned it that afternoon. She told of how poor her parents were. And how her father, Grant, walked through Grant Park, pretending it was named for him. And how her father took her mother to Grant Hospital, again pretending it was named for him. And there, Patti was born. That was a lead-in to "My Blakean Year". Other songs included "Mother Rose" (written for her mother, by her and Tony), "Lo and Beholden", "Beneath the Southern Cross", "Wing", "People Have the Power", "Dancing Barefoot", "Because the Night" and "Pissing In A River".
Lenny's pick for garage rock classic was "People Who Died". He and Tony traded verses. Patti introduced the song, saying that the Jim Carroll (who died last September) was "the greatest poet of our generation." The other cover for the night was The Ojays's "Love Train". Patti said they were gonna fuck it up. :-) After that was their finale, "Gloria". If you've ever heard the song, you know the energy involved. The audience goes wild, and it's not just appreciation for the song - everybody dances.
My man Lenny, probably during "Gloria".
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Date: 2010-02-22 04:06 am (UTC)From:Priceline your NYC rooms. It worked so well for me and T.
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Date: 2010-02-22 04:42 am (UTC)From:Cyn was looking on Priceline a little while ago. Looks like she found a good place.
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Date: 2010-02-24 04:32 am (UTC)From:http://www.chicagoconcertgoers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=44
He mentions her 1998 concert at the Riviera as the best concert he's ever seen. I was there. I was new to her at the time, so I wouldn't have recognized it as being great, but it certainly made an impression on me.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-live-0222-patti-smith-review-20100222,0,3042273.story
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Date: 2016-08-31 03:21 am (UTC)From:In her excellent new memoir, "Just Kids," Patti Smith recounts a fateful meeting with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe one night in desperate search of shelter. Some 43 years later, on Saturday night, Smith headlined the 18th annual Hopefest at Park West, a sold-out benefit for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
Needless to say, a lot has changed during the course of those years, and Smith would likely say not enough has changed. But certainly she hasn't strayed far from her firebrand roots, a poet-performer-protester who has never made much of a distinction among those three facets of her personality. Then again, it's hard to imagine the Patti Smith of 1975 — the year of her immortal debut, "Horses" — covering "Love Train" by the O'Jays, as she and her band did Saturday, but one can't begrudge an artist her good mood.
Indeed, Smith, 63, was in good spirits throughout the 90-minute set, and it's possible that same mood was responsible for the night's awkward mix of transcendence and tentativeness. Just as Smith would fling off her cap and explode with "Free Money," she'd recede, teeter-tottering between passion and introspection, knowing that whenever a burst of energy was called for she could always launch into a reliable "Dancing Barefoot," "Because the Night" or "Pissing in the River."
Yet it was two important covers that most successfully galvanized the crowd (and, no, neither of them were "Love Train"). The first was a blistering, breathless run through Smith's late friend and fellow poet Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," a devil-may-care tribute to the inevitable that found Smith and the band on the brink of collapse but having a blast. The second was, of course, Smith's interpretation of Van Morrison's "Gloria," one of the all-time great anti-anthems that never ceases to bring out the wild singer of old.
Maybe she was merely pacing herself throughout the night, but it's good to know that when Smith strikes that match, the fire's still there, burning like a beacon for the three decades of fans who have grown along with her.