patti smith tour 2023 review

At the Anthem, Patti Smith’s power and passions still have potency

The pioneering singer demonstrated her unwavering commitment to several causes and concerns, including D.C. statehood

After the first few songs of her set Saturday night at the Anthem, it took Patti Smith a few tries to get on track for a cover of “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night),” by the Electric Prunes. The singer shrugged off a missed note and had to restart after she got tangled in the lyrics, but neither Smith nor the full house seemed to mind.

“That wasn’t real,” Smith explained. “That was a slight time warp.”

For a few hours Saturday, Smith was the leader of a band of merry time travelers, reaching back through her years spent as the spiritual connection between the Beat Generation and the proto-punks, playing her own songs and those by like-minded sojourners.

During the Electric Prunes cover, Smith turned her missteps into impromptu poetry before the song built to a frenzy. It’s a song about a dream of an old lover who evaporates at dawn, to which she added the lyric, “Don’t go!”

At 76, Smith has outlived most of the best minds of her generation (and the preceding one): collaborators, friends and lovers to whom she paid tribute during the show, with projections of Robert Mapplethorpe’s “Horses” cover portrait; Robert Frank’s black-and-white video for Smith’s “Summer Cannibals”; her ecstatic reading of Allen Ginsberg’s “Footnote to Howl”; a cover of Television’s “Guiding Light,” in memory of Tom Verlaine, who died earlier this year; and a rousing rendition of her best-known song, “Because the Night,” which she wrote about her husband and “eternal boyfriend,” Fred “Sonic” Smith, who died in 1994.

Smith has played “Because the Night” more than 1,000 times, but the song’s lyrical search for the truth about love and lust is an everlasting one, and her ragged pleadings of “touch me now” grow more sorrowful with each passing year. In kind, Smith’s main instrument — the voice through which she has delivered poetry for more than half a century — is stained by time but still potent.

Smith, one of the baby boomers who never gave up the good fight, still has plenty to scream about. Along with remembering the departed, she encouraged the audience to keep in mind the people around the world in need: those affected by flooding in Libya and the earthquake in Morocco, women fighting for human rights in Iran, and workers striking for fairness in the United States. She dedicated “Peaceable Kingdom” to Palestinians, singing, “I wanted to tell you that your tears were not in vain.”

During her encore, Smith told a story about seeing Neil Young at the Fillmore East 50-odd years ago and covered his song “After the Gold Rush,” which she updated for the times: Mother Nature is still on the run in the 21st century, as it was in the 1970s. As the fight to save humanity from a climate apocalypse continues, so does the struggle for D.C. statehood, a cause Smith noted before her show-ending performance of “People Have the Power.” These days, her lyrics about using the vote as a way “to redeem the work of fools” ring hollow; the power to strike feels more resonant. Either way, Smith reminded the crowd: “Use your voice” — a lesson she has never forgotten.

Things To Do | Review: Feisty and ferocious, Chicago-born…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Music and Concerts
• The Theater Loop
• TV and Streaming

Things To Do

Things to do | review: feisty and ferocious, chicago-born patti smith and band buzz with electricity at the salt shed.

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune

Patti Smith and her band perform at Salt Shed in Chicago on Dec. 27, 2023.

Patti Smith and her band performs at Salt Shed on Dec. 27, 2023.

Fans look on as Patti Smith and her band perform Salt Shed on Dec. 27, 2023.

Patti Smith, foreground, and her band, including Lenny Kaye, right, perform at Salt Shed in Chicago on Dec. 27, 2023.

Though Smith is no stranger to remarkable performances, her transcendent showing at the former Morton Salt facility unfolded as the stuff of legend. It was the type of event where those lucky enough to witness it proudly boast they were there and those who missed out tend to fib about their attendance. Outshining their recent local appearances, including a 2022 gig at Metro and a storm-shortened 2021 engagement in Evanston, Smith and her crack band sparked a conflagration of energy, passion and resolve that wouldn’t be denied.

They rejoiced, implored, cautioned, loved, hoped, imagined and instructed. They celebrated longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye’s 77th birthday with cake and candles. Addressing loss not via sadness but by way of uplifting inspiration and tender comfort, they mourned recently deceased friends and long-departed heroes. They joked with one another, admitted minor mistakes, swapped instruments and resisted the urge to follow road maps.

Playing according to feel, the quintet traversed everything from smoky R&B and garage rock to punk, psychedelia and raga. The group steered clear of ornamentation in the same way the no-frills visual elements — standard lighting and a lone screen that displayed one static picture per song — directed attention toward the music. The epitome of understated cool in a sport coat, vest, T-shirt and boots, her silver-gray hair falling past her shoulders, Smith presided over it all. And how.

As she nears her own 77th birthday this Saturday, the Chicago-born pioneer remains an active force on the stage — a space where she excelled before and since taking a lengthy hiatus in the early 1980s to raise a family. The sudden death in 1994 of her husband, ex-MC5 member Fred “Sonic” Smith, caused her to change course.

Relocating from Michigan back to her old stomping grounds in New York City, Smith reemerged in the public eye with full force. She found time for collaborations, tours, art exhibitions and lectures, all the while releasing five albums in a dozen years. In advance of her 2007 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the singer often heard her name mentioned by a then-new wave of musicians who cited her as a primary influence.

Having last issued a new studio LP in 2012, Smith has spent a majority of the past two decades focused on her first love: the written word. Her outstanding memoir “Just Kids” won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010. A follow-up, “M Train,” earned similar praise and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. A subsequent travelogue (“Year of the Monkey”) and visual diary (“A Book of Days”) prolonged Smith’s run as a bestselling author.

As expected at Salt Shed, Smith painted vivid pictures, evoked potent images and sketched detailed characters with verse. She prefaced several numbers with brief poems or abbreviated lyrics from other songs that functioned as windows to the narratives soon at hand. In Smith’s universe, “hot liquors of the Milky Way” coexist with cloud-sailing ships, vagabonds and harlequins. Even her unaccompanied, summarized recitation of a Maria Callas aria stung with its beauty and bite.

Descriptive language, extending to a colorful account of her birth in this city on a night where a blizzard paralyzed transportation, represented one of the multitude of pro-grade tools Smith called upon at will. Her body language was equally effective and, in terms of defying limits, nearly rivaled the intact quality of her voice. Both traits bypassed the natural decline that usually accompanies older age.

Fully invested in every moment, Smith moved without restraint. She hopped, crouched, marched, danced and gestured. Her legs bent and shook; her knees literally knocked. Pumping, circling, pointing, waving, stretching, crossing, touching: The singer’s arms became animated extensions of her soul.

Vocally, Smith executed similar acrobatics. She stayed within her traditional scope — midrange and low — and effortlessly switched between them, singing with clarity and purpose. Tonally, Smith sounded almost indistinguishable from the promising upstart who made her debut record nearly 50 years ago. She still has the throatiness and grain, the swagger and sensuality, the intrinsic ability to default to pure emotion.

Those howls, moans, chants, snarls, curses and croons both summoned and admonished. During a transfixing 20-minute pairing of “Land” and “Gloria,” Smith castigated someone in the audience for throwing an ice cube at her. The feisty rebuke included a quick lesson in climate change as well as a threat that seemed pulled directly off the streets.

And to think that Smith felt “a little trepidation” due to feeling under the weather in recent days. A more accurate self-assessment of her condition — “Oh, I’m doing fine,” she said, smiling — arrived as a spontaneous reply to a question. That remark, too, failed to capture the extraordinary urgency, conviction and fearlessness with which she approached her work.

Activist, mother, dreamer, rebel, patriot, mystic, protester, motivator, believer, liberator: Smith inhabited these roles and others during an impossibly youthful performance that buzzed with electricity. With her son, Jackson, on the guitar, she relished the intimate solidarity of “Because the Night” — dedicated to her forever “boyfriend,” the departed Fred Smith — and infinite possibilities swirling in the fantasies of a struggling couple on a breathless rendition of “Free Money.”

Maintaining such enthusiasm and earnestness throughout a show often proves elusive; demonstrating keen awareness and cerebral insight presents another set of challenges. Smith and her mates held tight to all those attributes. In tribute to groundbreaking artists who died in 2023, they honored Television co-founder and fellow ’70s CBGB-scene contemporary Tom Verlaine (a sparkling “Guiding Light”); uncompromising singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor (a hypnotic “Dancing Barefoot”); and Irish songsmith Shane MacGowan (a ramshackle “Dirty Old Town,” led by bassist Tony Shanahan).

Kaye also grabbed the microphone and helped give Smith a breather with an apt cover. Altering the tune’s original verses to mirror his biographical experiences, the septuagenarian interpreted Culture’s roots-reggae hit “Two Sevens Clash” with a savvy blend of humor and seriousness.

Gravity, and the consequences of complacency, informed Smith’s most profound and primal instances. As the hottest year in history concludes and war rages around the world, her thoughts turned to the planet, survival and destruction. She put a fresh spin on a mystery-filled version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” by capitalizing on the potential meaning of its title before injecting an original verse in which an Eden of birds, fish and children gets spoiled by poisons, guns and bombs. “How did we stand and watch this [expletive] happen?” Smith shouted. The implications, and blatant connections to present-day circumstances, allowed nobody a safe space to hide.

She invoked Dylan again, quoting his castigating “Masters of War” as a prelude to the soft “Peaceable Kingdom,” treated as a fading wish rather than a certainty. Refusing to be a bystander amid global suffering and recognizing all that’s at stake, Smith broke near the end of the meditative dirge “Beneath the Southern Cross.”

Feisty and ferocious, the vocalist incited people to stand up against oil companies and governments trampling lands, rescinding rights and desecrating the planet. In championing joy, peace and unity — and encouraging diligence and denouncing boundaries — she fought for independence and democracy as if her, and our, very lives depend on it.

“The future is now!” Smith declared. Amen, sister.

Bob Gendron is a freelance critic.

Setlist from Patti Smith at the Salt Shed Dec. 27:

“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” (Byrds cover)

“Ghost Dance”

“Free Money”

“Guiding Light” (Television cover)

“All Along the Watchtower” (Bob Dylan cover)

“Work” (Charlotte Day Wilson cover)

“Nine”

“Because the Night”

“Happy Birthday” (traditional)

“Two Sevens Clash” (Culture cover)

“Dirty Old Town” (Ewan MacColl cover)

“Dancing Barefoot”

“Peaceable Kingdom” / “People Have the Power” (snippet)

“Pissing in a River”

“Beneath the Southern Cross”

“Land” / “Gloria”

“People Have the Power”

More in Things To Do

Entertainment | ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ reigns at the box office with $56.5 million opening

Music and Concerts | Column: Devo in concert in Chicago: At 50, no signs of de-evolution

Entertainment | Swiss fans get ready to welcome Eurovision winner Nemo back home

Entertainment | A combustible Cannes is set to unfurl with ‘Furiosa,’ ‘Megalopolis’ and a #MeToo reckoning

Trending nationally.

• NASA watchdog report: 100+ cracks on heat shield biggest threat to human moon mission
• Babies “R” Us is returning with 200 locations nationwide. Here are the details.
• Catholics last year reported a possible miracle to the Vatican. Why it’s in a ‘holding pattern.’
• Python hunters must humanely kill snakes: How Florida has cracked down in contests through the years
• New COVID ‘FLiRT’ variants are spreading nationwide. Chicago health experts urge up to date vaccination.

• Advertise With Us

jQuery(document).ready( function($) { var retina = window.devicePixelRatio > 1 ? true : false; if ( retina ) { jQuery( '.site--logo img' ).attr( 'src', 'https://spectrumculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Spectrum-Culture-Logo3.png' ); jQuery( '.site--logo img' ).attr( 'width', '' ); } } );

Concert review: patti smith.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on Linkedin
• Share on Tumblr

The heat cast an apocalyptic pall over Portland. For the third day in a row, temperatures crested over 100 degrees. The streets were mainly deserted save a few homeless folks and those who needed to walk their dogs. The air hung with no breeze. It was not the perfect evening to see Patti Smith in concert, let alone in an uncovered, outdoor square in the center of a city. Despite promoters pushing the show up 30 minutes from a 6:30pm to 7:00pm start time, temps didn’t drop even as the sun descended, leaving those waiting for the music start drenched in sweat.

Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not Patti’s. It’s also a miracle that no one died in Pioneer Square that night, let alone the 76-year-old musician herself. But no one passed away or even passed out up front and we were blessed with a 105-minute, 15-song set from the inimitable Smith and her band that seemed to play a peak level, despite the hostile conditions.

That said, the heat so affected the evening that it is impossible to pretend it didn’t infect everything. It crept up on you. Made you feel faint. Made you feel things and see things. Smith admitted at the end of the set that she doesn’t do well in the heat. After an incendiary version of “Beneath the Southern Cross,” which featured bassist Tony Shanahan and Smith’s guitarist son Jackson trading Hendrix and Beatles licks, the singer pushed the typically tranquil song into fiery territory, shouting, “Beneath the fucking Southern Cross” as it wrapped up. She then offered an apology for the slip, blaming the weather.

As usual in a Patti Smith show, death clung close to the evening. Smith is a survivor of an era in which fewer and fewer still survive. She frequently pays tribute to fallen comrades during her concerts. Though she has been acknowledging the recently departed Robbie Robertson at other stops on this tour, she instead feted Allen Ginsberg by reading “Footnote to Howl,” while also commemorating the 70th birthday of City Lights Books. She dedicated the aforementioned “Southern Cross” to Sinead O’Connor. Smith also played a cover of “Guiding Light” in the honor of Tom Verlaine, who died in January. Meanwhile, guitarist Lenny Kaye and one of the roadies wore Marquee Moon shirts. Speaking of Kaye, the band also ripped through a cover of “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” by the Electric Prunes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his Nuggets compilation.

Despite the heat, Smith was in fine form, still blazing and inspiring in her performances of classics such as “Ghost Dance,” “Dancing Barefoot” and “Pissing in the River.” Though the setlist touched on all parts of her career, Smith gave only one slot to her classic debut, Horses , ending the first set with a rousing version of “Gloria” that had the audience singing along with fists in the air.

Unlike most of her contemporaries, Smith is still here and can still perform. She made jokes about the heat when wiping her brow, quipping that she is glad she didn’t bring her makeup artist along. For Smith, whose hair is now tendrils of white, vanity is not an issue. She can still bring awareness to social issues though, perform her old songs with the same sturm und drang that brought her fame in the ‘70s. Still touch the multiple generations of sweaty fans who came out to witness the show, despite unsafe temperatures.

But Smith is also slowing down. Kaye and Shanahan sang just a bit more lead this time than in past concerts. Smith now takes a “bathroom break” halfway through the show, allowing Kaye to take the lead on the Grateful Dead cover, “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion),” while she is resting off-stage. Smith turns 77 at the end of December. She can’t command the stage forever.

That is why it was important to brave the extreme heat and see the concert for so many. Smith is someone who keeps the memory of the dead alive. She also pays tribute to living peers such as Bob Dylan (who she often covers) and Neil Young, whose “After the Gold Rush” she sang during the encore with just Shanahan on keys. Even if ending with the somewhat trite “People Have the Power” didn’t hold the same power as earlier songs in the set, the concert was worth the sweat and the delusion. Holy is the sweat. Holy is the delusion. Smith said she has played many climate change concerts. Meanwhile, here we are. Smith claimed that this “mutual care fest” gave her the fortitude to make it through the set. May we all find that same power to face down the inevitable. May we recognize our holiness.

• Related Articles
• More By David Harris
• More In Concert Reviews

Year of the Monkey: by Patti Smith

The Ten Best Debut Albums of the 1970s

M Train: by Patti Smith

Concert Review: Pearl Jam

Concert Review: Violent Femmes

Concert Review: The Mission UK

Concert Review: Melanie Martinez

Concert Review: Katie Pruitt/Jack Van Cleaf

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published.

In the ‘90s, a Pearl Jam concert was an emotional exorcism. In 2024, it has moved to a big…

Get the latest updates in your inbox

Recommended.

Jessica Pratt: Here in the Pitch

Here in the Pitch is an emotional and brilliant album that showcases a songwriter capable of alchemy. Witness in real time as Pratt transforms darkness into light.

The Last Stop in Yuma County

Meshell Ndegeocello: Red Hot & Ra: The Magic City

Latest features.

Discography: Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Oeuvre: Fincher: Gone Girl

Criminally Overrated: Spy

Latest reviews.

• Got a Scoop?
• Arts & Entertainment
• Food & Drink
• Real Estate
• Indy Parenting
• Cover Stories
• Classifieds
• Create Event

Review | Patti Has the Power, at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara

Punk-Folk-Pop-Poet Legend Patti Smith Serves Up a Stirring Benefit Evening at the Lobero

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

Deep into Patti Smith’s superlative concert at the Lobero Theatre last week, she steered the generous cover song portion of her set toward another living legend, Neil Young. After citing the relevance of his 50-year-old environmental cautionary tale “After the Gold Rush” in her introduction, she tweaked his infectious/ominous refrain: “Look at Mother Nature on the run / in the 21st century.”

Timeless relevance, as it happened, was a theme in the latest of a few local concerts in recent years by Smith, now 76 and going strong. It was a special night, musically and altruistically, as the event organized by promoter Earl Minnis benefitted the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse ( CADA ), Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation , the Bob Dylan Center and another worthy cause — the mighty and warming Lobero herself, currently basking its 150-year birthday glow. (Said in-house glow was recently enhanced by Architectural Digest’s declaration of the theater as one of “ 11 Most Beautiful Theaters in the World .”)  

Smith and her trio — longstanding ally Tony Shanahan on bass and keyboards and her nimble guitarist son Jackson Smith — treated the full house to a show that spanned stages of her musical life and was steeped in open-eared appreciation of recently passed musical friends and icons. She seized the stage, in a gentle yet robust way, nailing the notes and melodies but also with a sense of where to riff and depart from the script, as with her poetic abandon at the end of “All Along the Watchtower,” she began to howl. Spontaneous poetic license also fed into her paean to William Blake, “My Blakean Year.”

Mortality and the importance of paying respects to fallen icons was another recurring notion here, starting at the start. To open the show, Smith dedicated her song “Grateful” to the late, great Jerry Garcia, who died on that very day in 1995, which she dubbed his “passing day.” She also dedicated songs to the late Sinead O’Connor (“Pissing in a River”), whose activist and outspoken character Smith clearly connects with, and a figure and longtime friend still underrated in the left-of-center annals of rock ‘n’ roll, Tom Verlaine, of “Television and Tom Verlaine” fame. Her version of Verlaine’s Television song “Guiding Light” was one of the night’s surprise highlights.

Fresher on everyone’s mind, in terms of fallen legends, was Robbie Robertson of The Band fame, to whom she paid tribute with her hypnotic lament “Beneath the Southern Cross,” ending with a chant of “cross over, cross over…”

Smith brought the setlist spotlight squarely back to her own songbook for a run through her two most widely known tunes. She closed out the show with the radio-kissed and Bruce Springsteen–co-written and immortalized “Because the Night” and returned for a rousing encore of the vague-yet-inspirational anthem, co-written with her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, “People Have the Power.” The people happily joined in on the chorus, literally obeying Smith’s final life advice to the crowd: “Use your voice!”

As of now, Patti Smith is riding a self-designed wave of timeless self-reliance and cultural cross reference. That, along with her charismatic voice, added up to the makings of one of the finer musical evenings in our town this year.

More Like This

Film Review | Dangerous Day Jobbing

Year 2023 Graduate Steps into Executive Director Role at Santa Barbara’s Arts Fund

ON the Beat | Tale of Two Societies

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Not a member? Sign up here.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Patti Smith

How Good Are They LIVE?

Live Rating  

Real live certified  , critic consensus, festivals in 2024.

Latest Release

Artist info, critic concert reviews, chicago tribune (usa).

Full Review

Chicago Concert Reviews (USA)

Knack focus (belgium), parklife dc (usa), the washington post (usa), spectrum culture (usa), grateful web (usa), past critic reviews published in, image credit.

Featured Artists

Sign up to our newsletter

Top touring artists.

Stevie Nicks

The Gaslight Anthem

The National

Jason Isbell

Fall Out Boy

Nothing But Thieves

All Artists

Featured festivals.

Big As Texas Fest 2024

Kilby Block Party 2024

Wonderfront Festival 2024

Cruel World Festival 2024

Groovin The Moo Bunbury 2024

EDC Week 2024

All festivals, subscribe to our newsletter.

Show Review: Patti Smith at Pioneer Courthouse Square

The years disappeared from smith’s voice and body, leaving her looking and sounding ageless..

At one point during her 90-minute set at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Patti Smith wished aloud she could conjure up thunderstorms over downtown Portland. Not so much as a reprieve from the triple-digit temperatures we were all enduring that evening, but mainly to keep us humble. To remind us how fragile we are in the face of the primal forces of nature.

Truth be told, we were already thinking about the frailty of life as we stood at the feet of this venerable songwriter and poet. Smith’s face and gray hair and sometimes tentative movements were stark reminders of her age (76). And during her and her band’s cover of Television’s “Guiding Light,” a tribute to Tom Verlaine, one of her fellow New Yorkers who passed away earlier this year, she briefly forgot the words to the second verse. All reminders that she’s closer to the end of her days than the beginning.

That was reason enough to endure the heat and the occasional hyper-exuberant fan—to honor this force of nature in human form while she is still with us. And goodness knows, for much of the set of proto-punk classics and art-rock invocations, the years disappeared from Smith’s voice and body, leaving her looking and sounding ageless.

The overarching message, as spelled out in her stage banter, was one of immediate action. Smith urged us to help rebuild our city, to use our voice to fight back against the powers that be, to vote, and to protect our delicate planet. It was a point she drove home most acutely with her one-two punch of an encore: a gorgeous rendition of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” and her own anthem “People Have the Power.” A week later and that moment has me still inspired to storm the halls of Congress with some metaphorical thunderstorms of my own.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.

• Live Review
• Local Spotlight
• Around Town
• Stars and Bars

Preview: Patti Smith @ The Anthem, 9/16/23

The legendary punk poet Patti Smith performs at The Anthem in DC on Saturday, Sept. 16 .

Patti Smith, born in Chicago and raised in South Jersey, migrated to New York City in 1967. Her extensive achievements as a performer, author, recording and visual artist is acknowledged worldwide.

Released in 1975, Smith’s first recording, Horses, was inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2010 by the National Recording Preservation Board. Her subsequent albums include Radio Ethiopia, Easter, which included Because the Night, cowritten with Bruce Springsteen, Wave, Dream of Life, which included “People Have the Power,” cowritten with her late husband Fred Sonic Smith, “Gone Again,” “Peace and Noise,” “Gung Ho,” “Trampin’,” “Land,” “Twelve,” “Banga,” and “Outside Society.” She is a four-time Grammy nominee and a Golden Globe nominee for the song “Mercy Is” cowritten with Lenny Kay for the film Noah. Steven Sebring’s 2008 documentary, Patti Smith: Dream of Life, received an Emmy nomination.

Watch a lyric video for “Mercy Is” by Patti Smith and The Kronos Quartet on YouTube:

Patti Smith was awarded the prestigious 2010 National Book Award for her bestselling memoir, Just Kids, chronicling her deep friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the evolution of their work. Her books include Witt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, Auguries of Innocence, Collected Lyrics, M Train, Devotion and Year of the Monkey. A Book of Days, featuring 365 images and reflections was published in 2022.

Smith holds the honor of “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres” from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2007 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was honored by ASCAP with the Founders Award in 2010, representing lifetime achievement, and was the recipient of Sweden’s 2011 Polar Award, an international acknowledgement for significant achievements in music. In 2013, Smith received the Katharine Hepburn Medal from Bryn Mawr College, recognizing women whose contributions embody the drive and work ethic of the celebrated actress.

In 2014, Barnard College Board of Trustees presented Patti Smith with their Medal of Distinction. In 2016, she was awarded the Burke Medal for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Trinity College, Dublin.

Smith’s photographs, drawings, and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Coupled with her photography exhibit Higher Learning, Smith received the Laurea Magistrate causa from Parma, Italy and an honorary doctorate in Euro-American Literature from Padova University. She was awarded The Badge of the Austrian Decoration of Science and Art in 2019.

In 2020, Smith received the literary service prize from PEN America and the Wall Street Journal acknowledged her as a Literature Innovator and in May 2022 received the Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia University as well as receiving the distinction of being named an Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the French Republic.

Her renowned band includes guitarist and author Lenny Kaye, who she has collaborated with since 1971, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty since 1975, Tony Shanahan on bass and keyboards, since 1996, and her son, guitarist Jackson Smith, for over a decade. At present Smith writes, performs, lending support for human-rights issues and environmental groups, primarily Pathway to Paris, a nonprofit organization co-founded by her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith, offering tangible solutions for combatting global climate. She resides in New York City. She is a featured writer on Substack , where her twice weekly writings and readings can be subscribed to on line.

Buy your tickets online now!

Patti Smith The Anthem Saturday, Sept. 16 Doors @ 6:30pm $55/$75 All ages

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Our Partners
• Thrushie Awards

Patti Smith brings poetry and music to Portland’s ‘Living Room’

Organizers handed out water and set up misting systems to keep the audience cool

Patti Smith and Her Band perform at the Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland on Aug. 15, 2023. This show is a part of the PDX LIVE concert series.

Prakruti Bhatt / OPB

Grammy Hall of Fame-honored artist and author Patti Smith took over Portland’s “Living Room” — Pioneer Courthouse Square — Tuesday evening.

“Hello Portland! So happy to be here. I know, like many other places in the world, you’ve had your troubles. But Portland’s a great city and we’re so happy to be here,” Smith told the cheering audience before opening the set with, “Grateful.”

Smith and her band, which also includes her son Jackson Smith on the guitar, delivered an empowering concert, which was part of the PDX Live performance series.

The show included performances of “Ghost Dance” and a cover of Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush.”

She also intonated “Footnote to Howl” by Allen Ginsberg. The cover performance came in celebration of City Lights Bookstore’s —the publisher of Ginsberg’s “Howl and Other Poems” — 70th anniversary.

Hundreds of fans braved the heat as temperatures soared over 100 degrees. The venue was equipped with misting systems and event officials handed out free water bottles.

Smith closed the show with “People Have The Power” just shy of 9 p.m.

Before taking a final bow, the 76-year-old singer-songwriter reminded the audience: “People have the power. Don’t forget it. Use your voice.”

OPB’s First Look newsletter

Streaming Now

BBC The History Hour

Chicago Concert Reviews

We’ve got the windy city covered., punk godmother, “because the night” belter patti smith reminds salt shed “people have the power”.

Posted by Andy Argyrakis

Before screaming a single note inside a just shy of sold out Salt Shed, the enduringly inimitable and always insightful Patti Smith proclaimed how wonderful it felt to be back in the town where she was born.

Between then and being just three days shy of her 77th birthday, the singer/songwriter of course went on to be the godmother of the early New York punk scene and has since impacted the entire globe as a fearless freedom fighter and social justice seeker.

Despite most material coming from the 1970s and ‘80s, it was arguably all the more relevant right now than it’s ever been with Smith showing no signs of coming off a cold or her advancing years.


If anything, the headliner came across like a hurricane during The Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” into her own “Ghost Dance” and “Free Money,” plus nailed the iconic Bruce Springsteen collaboration “Because The Night,” which was placed surprisingly early in the set.

Kaye took the lead on Ewan MacColl’s “Dirty Old Town” as a dedication to The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, Smith did the same surrounding “Dancing Barefoot” for Sinead O’Connor and there was even a spoken word segment paying tribute to fellow late opera great and unexpected influence Maria Callas.

Along the way, she also spit, burped, joked and cursed out a water bottle thrower (who was swiftly ejected by security), while eagerly rallying the audience to be the change needed in this increasingly power-hungry world.

For additional information on Patti Smith, visit PattiSmith.net .

For a list of upcoming Jam Productions concerts, visit JamUSA.com .

Upcoming concert highlights at The Salt Shed include Mt. Joy (Dec. 28-31); Drama (Jan. 20); Black Pumas (Jan. 25-27); Crying At The Shed (Feb. 14-16); Cold War Kids (Feb. 23); Inzo (Feb. 24); Neck Deep (Feb. 25); Porno For Pyros (Feb. 26); Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit (Feb. 29-Mar. 1); Greensky Bluegrass (Mar. 2); AC Slater (Mar. 8); LANY (Mar. 29-30); Jeff Rosenstock (Apr. 11); Belle & Sebastian (May 4); The Teskey Brothers (May 10); Social Distortion and Bad Religion (May 18); Bleachers (May 25); Brothers Osborne (Jun. 22) and All Time Low (Jul. 6). For additional details, visit SaltShedChicago.com .

• Jam Productions
• Patti Smith
• The Salt Shed

Copyright © 2012-2023 Chicago Concert Reviews. All Rights Reserved.

Patti Smith: Words and Music

Saturday, september 23, 2023 at 8:00pm, venue matthews theater.

The poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist Patti Smith, a singular figure in New York counterculture that continues to create and inspire well into her eighth decade of life. Her 1975 debut album Horses is widely considered one of the greatest albums of all time, and her memoirs serve as a time capsule for a downtown arts scene and some of its most fascinating personalities. She won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2010 for Just Kids , her book about her earliest days in New York making art with Robert Mapplethorpe, and in 2015 published M Train , about her life with and after her husband, the musician Fred (Sonic) Smith, who died in 1994. Her latest book Devotion explores the nature of creative invention. For her performance of Words and Music , Smith is backed by her longtime partner guitarist Lenny Kaye and bassist Tony Shanahan, sharing original spoken-word stories from her life interspersed with songs.

This performance is not Choice Pass eligible.

Photo by Roy Matusek.

The National Brought Stadium Grandeur to Toronto, While Patti Smith and U.S. Girls Cut Deep

Budweiser Stage, August 20

BY Kaelen Bell Published Aug 21, 2023

More The National

• See Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Vampire Weekend, blink-182 and More for $25 with Live Nation's Concert Week
• The National and the War on Drugs Team Up for North American Tour
• Bess Atwell Announces New Aaron Dessner-Produced Album 'Light Sleeper'

More Patti Smith

• Patti Smith Responds to Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' Namedrop
• The Year in Photos: Our Favourite Concert Memories of 2023
• Patti Smith in "Good Health" After Being Hospitalized Due to "Sudden Illness"

September 19, 2024

The national / the war on drugs, the national / the war on drugs / lucius, september 20, 2024, october 2, 2024, latest coverage.

Drake Asks News Helicopters to Please Stop Flying Above His Toronto Mansion

Maya Rudolph and Vampire Weekend Had Rip-Roaring Fun on Strangely Scatological 'SNL'

Trans-Canada Highwaymen Were Pure Nostalgic Joy in Ottawa

Fuck the Facts Returned Anew in Toronto

• Weird But True
• Sex & Relationships
• Viral Trends
• Human Interest
• Fashion & Beauty
• Food & Drink
• Personal Care
• Health & Wellness
• Amazon Sales
• Mother’s Day Gifts
• Why Trust Us
• StackCommerce

trending now in Shopping

This under $20 uniqlo bag has been dubbed the 'millennial birkin'....

Is collagen worth the hype? See what experts have to say

Bath & body works just launched fragrance dupes for all your....

We tried $393 worth of La Roche-Posay's best skincare products:...

Golf experts share the 4 types of golf balls for golfers at every...

Out of the 55 eye creams we reviewed, these are the 29 best for...

Save time and money on your commute with these top-rated electric...

19 best vanillas that are anything but basic — our top picks

Patti smith has just 3 shows scheduled this year. get tickets now.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

The “Punk Poet Laureate” can’t stay away from the stage.

Patti Smith — who has played 24 shows all over the globe this year — has just three more shows lined up in 2023.

First up, the “Before The Night” singer will stop into Kingston, NY’s Ulster Performing Arts Center on Nov. 11.

After that, she’ll stop into Chicago, IL’s The Salt Shed on Dec. 27.

Finally, the 76-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will close the year at Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Steel on Dec. 30.

And if you want to see her live, tickets are available for all three upcoming gigs .

For NY fans, we recommend making it out to the Brooklyn show instead of Kingston if you can — as of now, prices are much cheaper for the Brooklyn Steel date.

At the time of publication, we found tickets going for $525 before fees on Vivid Seats for the Nov. 11 concert whereas prices start at $95 before fees to see Smith in BK.

Need a few more details before clicking purchase on the Smith show of you choosing?

Keep scrolling.

We’ve got everything you need to know and more about Patti Smith’s remaining 2023 tour dates below.

All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.

Patti Smith 2023 tour schedule

A complete calendar including all Patti Smith concert dates, venues and links to the best prices on tickets available can be found here:

(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and include additional fees at checkout .)

Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand. 

They offer a 100% buyer guarantee that states your transaction will be safe and secure and your tickets will be delivered prior to the event.

Patti Smith set list

As noted above, Smith has performed a handful of concerts in 2023.

According to Set List FM , here’s what she’s been playing live on the road this year.

01.) “Dancing Barefoot” 02.) “Footnote to Howl” (Allen Ginsberg cover) 03.) “Ghost Dance” 04.) “My Blakean Year” 05.) “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” (The Electric Prunes cover) 06.) “Guiding Light” (Television cover) 07.) “Nine” 08.) “Because the Night” 09.) “Beneath the Southern Cross” 10.) “My Little Red Book” (Burt Bacharach cover) 11.) “7 and 7 Is” (Love cover) 12.) “Summer Cannibals” 13.) “Peaceable Kingdom / People Have the Power” 14.) “Pissing in a River” 15.) “Gloria” (Them cover) Encore:

16.) “After the Gold Rush” (Neil Young cover) 17.) “People Have the Power”

Classic rockers on tour in 2023

Many timeless icons who have been pounding the pavement for over 50 years are still going strong this year.

Here are just five of our favorites you won’t want to miss live these next few months.

•  Stevie Nicks

•  The Eagles

•  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

•  Aerosmith

•  Queen with Adam Lambert

Who else is touring? Check out our list of the 22 biggest classic rock tours in 2023 here to find out.

Share this article:

Advertisement

Supported by

Inside the Best-Seller List

Patti Smith’s Book Beats a 2023 Calendar Any Day of the Week

In her collection of photographs, the author and performer proves that pictures can be a window to the soul — and the era we’re living in.

• Share full article

By Elisabeth Egan

Patti Smith’s latest book, “A Book of Days,” rests in your hand like a box of high-end chocolates — pleasingly weighty, promising elegance and class alongside a touch of the bittersweet. Somehow it’s not surprising that, after a casual shot of the author herself, the first picture in Smith’s collection is of her own palm, fingers at attention, as if waving hello.

Welcome to 366 glimpses into the world of the iconic musician and writer, who shares an image and caption for each day of the year, including leap day. Think of it as a tear-off daily calendar, minus the stress of keeping up with page disposal; in fact, with her homages to bygone moments, Smith seems more concerned with reflection and preservation than she is with the rote ticking away of time.

“I wanted to do a book that, even though it acknowledges certain political things, just gave people a respite,” she said in a phone interview. “We can’t ignore what’s happening in the world — we have to be aware and engaged — but we also need time for thinking of other things or using our imagination.”

The project was inspired by Smith’s Instagram, @thisispattismith, where she might post a deathbed portrait of John Keats one month and a snapshot of her cat, Cairo, the next — with palm trees, stone lions and reminders to vote in between. She joined with the encouragement of her daughter in 2018, having never had much use for social media. Now, Smith said, “It has its positive use, and it has its fun use. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to show your new dress you think you look nice in.” But, she cautioned, “What’s dangerous is developing a concept of self through social media’s opinion. Young musicians, young artists, that is not the best way to develop a sense of self. Develop a sense of self by the work you do, by building your own confidence, by listening to your own voice. The more we use it to share, to be aware, whether it’s climate change or social injustice, or sharing happy moments, then it has its good use.”

As for “A Book of Days” — a tangible, IRL object — Smith hopes it will give readers an excuse to celebrate little moments and pause to recognize big ones. That’s why she chose an epigraph from Christina Rossetti, a poet she’s admired since childhood: “A hundred thousand birds salute the day.” Another contender for front-of-book placement was a quote from Jimi Hendrix: “Hooray, I wake from yesterday!” As Smith said, “These phrases give us a sense of gratitude.”

Elisabeth Egan is an editor at the Book Review and the author of “A Window Opens.”

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Popular artists

Patti Smith tour dates 2024

Patti Smith is currently touring across 7 countries and has 11 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Symphony Space in New York (NYC), after that they'll be at Brighton Dome in Brighton.

Currently touring across

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands

Upcoming concerts (11) See nearest concert

Symphony Space

Brighton Dome

Vicar Street

Retro C Trop Festival

Les Nits de Barcelona

Paradiso Grote Zaal

Somerset House

METAStadt Open Air

Teatro del Generalife

Past concerts

Long Play Festival

Elizabeth Street Garden

Greenlight Bookstore

View all past concerts

Recent tour reviews

The great poet and songstress, Patti, and Jesse, her daughter, and her son on guitar, and Lennie Kaye-what a warm AND Rockin'show! Her Philly connections and, for me, her beginings in the late seventies at CBGBs, where I saw and heard her many times made this a very special show.

Seeing her in the renewed Met, which holds 3500 people, was especially wonderful. I sat way up in the third balcony, yet I felt I was with her all the way

Report as inappropriate

Beautiful and warm summer evening in Stockholm. The venue an amusement park by the sea. Maybe not the best venue for an artist like Smith, but she turns the park into her own place, inspiring the audience into prayers for the world, for the poor, for the victims of war and extremism.

Patti Smith in the now with strong performances of among others Wing, Dancing barefoot, Beneath the Southern Cross, and off course People have the power and Because the night. And a surprising cover of Can't help falling in love.

Just excellent! Amazing singer and poet. Authentic, moving, exciting. What a brilliant gig and artist. Love you Patti!

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:
• Smith, Patti
• June 6, 2023 Setlist

Patti Smith Setlist at Slagthuset, Malmö, Sweden

• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date
• Edit set times
• Add to festival
• Report setlist
• Waiting Underground Play Video
• Because the Night ( Patti Smith Group  song) Play Video
• Break It Up Play Video
• Up There Down There Play Video
• Beneath the Southern Cross Play Video
• Boy Cried Wolf Play Video
• Peaceable Kingdom Play Video
• All Along the Watchtower ( Bob Dylan  cover) Play Video
• Nine Play Video
• Dancing Barefoot ( Patti Smith Group  song) Play Video
• Pissing in a River ( Patti Smith Group  song) Play Video
• Gloria ( Them  cover) Play Video
• After the Gold Rush ( Neil Young  cover) Play Video
• People Have the Power Play Video

Edits and Comments

2 activities (last edit by belars , 6 Jun 2023, 19:31 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• After the Gold Rush by Neil Young
• All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan
• Because the Night by Patti Smith Group
• Dancing Barefoot by Patti Smith Group
• Gloria by Them
• Pissing in a River by Patti Smith Group
• People Have the Power
• Up There Down There
• Beneath the Southern Cross
• Boy Cried Wolf
• Break It Up
• Waiting Underground
• Peaceable Kingdom

Complete Album stats

Patti Smith

More from this artist.

• More Setlists
• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Patti Smith Gig Timeline

• Jun 03 2023 Konserthuset Gothenburg, Sweden Start time: 7:35 PM 7:35 PM
• Jun 05 2023 Slagthuset Malmö, Sweden Add time Add time
• Jun 06 2023 Slagthuset This Setlist Malmö, Sweden Add time Add time
• Jun 08 2023 Filadelfia Convention Center Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden Start time: 7:50 PM 7:50 PM
• Jun 09 2023 Filadelfia Convention Center Metropolitan Stockholm, Sweden Add time Add time

5 people were there

• MightyHellbeard

Share or embed this setlist

Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically!

<div style="text-align: center;" class="setlistImage"><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/patti-smith/2023/slagthuset-malmo-sweden-33a6985d.html" title="Patti Smith Setlist Slagthuset, Malmö, Sweden 2023" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=33a6985d" alt="Patti Smith Setlist Slagthuset, Malmö, Sweden 2023" style="border: 0;" /></a> <div><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=33a6985d&amp;step=song">Edit this setlist</a> | <a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/patti-smith-73d6a2c9.html">More Patti Smith setlists</a></div></div>

Last.fm Event Review

[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/patti-smith/2023/slagthuset-malmo-sweden-33a6985d.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=33a6985d[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=33a6985d&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/patti-smith-73d6a2c9.html]More Patti Smith setlists[/url]

Tour Update

Marquee memories: cold war kids.

• Cold War Kids
• May 11, 2024
• May 10, 2024
• May 9, 2024
• May 8, 2024
• May 7, 2024
• May 6, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com