Patti Smith @ BAM

Last week I joined Catherine and her friend at BAM. She had bought tickets to the Patti Smith concert. It was presented as a play, with a first act and a second act. The first act consisted of her playing Horses in its entirety; the second was just a second set of other songs. As part of her all-star band, Flea played bass, and Tom Verlaine of Television was on guitar.

When we arrived at the theater, Catherine handed us our tickets. I looked at mine. It was a receipt. Catherine dug into her bag but couldn't find the other ticket. We went to the box office where they hand-wrote a replacement. While we were waiting, Catherine's friend leaned in and whispered, "That's Michael Stipe." I turned around and he was just picking up his ticket.

The first half of the concert was fantastic. Smith's voice was incredibly strong, and the band breathed new life into the album. It was amazing to hear how influential (and how influenced) the music was. Midway through, she paused. "Side two," she said before launching into the almost bubblegum pop opening of "Kimberly."

After the first half, I told Catherine I wished the concert was over. Hearing Horses live was transporting. Smith was incredibly energetic, and the music washed over the crowd. The second half could never compare.

And it didn't. The second half was pleasant, but I was still reeling from the first half. The band played well, the songs were fine, but it lacked the sense of historical importance. At the end of the concert, she brought a young child onto the stage from the audience and gave him her guitar. The boy played wildly for a while then stopped and looked back towards Patti for encouragement or for approval. She danced around as the rest of her band kept playing. The boy looked thrilled and lost, uncertain of whether he was in the right place or whether he was doing the right thing. Smith soon saved him, taking back her guitar for the finale.

Catherine emailed me after I had returned home. In cleaning out her purse she found the lost ticket. Posted by eku at December 8, 2005 2:54 PM