I went to see Patti Smith last night ( 17.03.04) at ULU, Mallet Street. I've been a big fan since first seeing her at The Rainbow in 1978, and always try to catch her live when she plays in London.
I bumped into Sean from the High Llamas - who used to be in Microdisney. I've only met him twice before - and both previous times were at Patti Smith gigs.
The last time I saw her she did go on a bit with her poetry. Now don't get me wrong I do like a bit of poetry. Hang on a minute, I've just read that last sentence back. No, I don't like poetry.
But when I saw she was playing a "spoken word" concert the following night, I was encouraged.
Sure enough, she was great. A few too many inter-song rants about Bush/Irag etc - but very nice all the same.
One thing about going to see Patti is I come away feeling a million dollars - and not just because of her songs. She manages to attract quite the most badly dressed audience I've ever had the misfortune to stand amongst.
It has crossed my mind to have a go at covering "Ask The Angels" - it sounded ok as I sang it to myself walking back to Marylebone station.