Patti Smith at Paradiso

Behind her bandmates Patti walks on stage. A subtly ironic shake of the hip, and half the venue is sold. She walks up to the microphone, puts on her reading glasses, and recites the cover text of Horses, the album that was released 40 years ago.

D eze maand bezocht ik twee concerten van grootheden uit de midden-70's.This month I attended two concerts by mid-70's celebrities. PIL (John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten) and Patti Smith. Allebei revolutionair zowel muzikaal als maatschappelijk. Both revolutionary, both musically and socially. London vs New York. London vs New York. Voorpaginanieuws vs underground. Front page news vs underground. Arbeidersklasse vs intellectuelen. Working class vs intellectual. 59 jaar vs 68 jaar. 59 years vs. 68 years. (*) (*)

Het publiek bij Patti Smith was gevarieerder.Patti Smith's audience was more varied and Ook duidelijk maatschappelijk geslaagder.clearly socially more successful. Hoewel de 50'ers en 60'ers in de meerderheid waren, was er een flink aandeel jongeren. Although the majority of the audiance was in their fifties or sixties, there was a large proportion of young people. TheDe hippy-spirit zat er ook in: toen de stoelen op de galerij allemaal bezet bleken, ging menigeen in kleermakerszit op de grond. Hippy-spirit was present: when the chairs on the gallery were full, many people sat cross-legged on the ground.

De toetsenist zette de eerste noten in van Gloria , het begin van de integrale uitvoering van Horses .The keyboardist put the first notes of Gloria, the beginning of the full performance of Horses. In de stevigere nummers ontpopte Patti zich als een ware rock chick , met ritme in de stem en swing in het lichaam, van links naar rechts over het podium bewegend, leunend over de monitoren, In the louder songs Patti turned out to be a real rock chick with rhythm in the voice and swing her body, moving left to right across the stage, leaning on the monitors, shaking handjes gevend aan het publiek op de eerste rij, zwaaiend naar de bovengalerijen. hands with the people in the front row, waving to the upper galleries.

In de meer poëtische nummers schreeuwde ze, krijste ze het publiek toe als een ontketende messias, vloekend en tierend als Jezus in de tempel.In the more poetic songs she yelled, she screamed to the audience as an unleashed Messiah, ranting and raving like Jesus in the temple. De lange grijze haren wapperend, de armen breed uitgestrekt, het publiek bezwerend. Her long gray hair waving around, arms stretched wide, beseeching the audience.

Haar stem was bepaald niet meer van fluweel, maar dat maakt ze goed met een intensiteit en energie waar John " Anger is an energy " Lydon niet van terug zou hebben.Her voice had nothing velvetty, but she made up for that with an intensity and energy that could have tought John "Anger is an energy" Lydon a lesson.

In aanmerking genomen dat Horses 40 jaar oud is, bleef de uitvoering dicht bij het origineel.Considering Horses is 40 years old, the performance stayed remarkably close to the original. Alleen kregen we een extra stuk Gloria na het titelnummer, en werd Elegie een aangrijpende klaagzang voor een lange lijst te vroeg overleden musici.HoweverHowever, we got an extra bit of Gloria after the title track, and Elegy became a poignant lament with a long list of prematurely deceased musicians. Bekenden als Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Corbain en Amy Winehouse, waar ze allemaal songs ter nagedachtenis voor geschreven heeft, en minder bekenden als Johnny Thunders, Johnny Winter en natuurlijk haar eigen man Freddy " Sonic " Smith. Famous people like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Corbain and Amy Winehouse, for who she wrote songs in memory, and lesser known artists like Johnny Thunders, Johnny Winter and of course her late husband Freddy "Sonic" Smith.

Na Horses werd een song opgedragen aan het publiek van Paradiso.When Horses was finished, a special song was dedicated to the audience of Paradiso. Toen de Patti Smith Group midden jaren '70 begon met touren, vond Patti het zo jammer dat het publiek nooit meezong. When the Patti Smith Group started touring in the mid 70s, Patti felt so sad her audiences never sang along. Pas na drie jaar, in Paradiso, werd ineens uit volle borst van begin tot eind meegezongen met Dancing Barefoot .With the exeption  of that one show  With the exeption of that one show in Paradiso, where suddenly they chanted along with Dancing Barefoot from beginning to end. Nu weer. Same thing happened tonight.

Daarna was er soort pauze, een intermezzo waarbij de band een medley van Velvet Underground nummers speelde.Then there was a sort of a break, an interlude in which the band played a medley of Velvet Underground songs. Toen Patti terugkwam op het podium, zei ze dat ze een costume change had ingepland om als hedendaagse rock star mee te kunnen. When Patti returned to the stage, she said she had planned a costume change to comply with the modern rock star. Alleen was ze vergeten zich om te kleden en deed dat alsnog on stage . Only she had forgetten it backstageand had to change on stage.

In het volgende blok van drie nummers zaten die andere grote hit, Because The Night , en twee nummers van de latere albums Dream of Life en Gone Again .The next block of three songs included that other big hit, Because The Night, and two songs from the later albums Dream of Life and Gone Again.De bandleden wisselden eens van instrument, Patti praatte wat meer en gaf opmerkingen uit het publike steeds een gevat weerwoord. The band members changed instruments, Patti talked some more and witty rebuted some comments from the audience. Ze kwam bijna niet meer uit haar woorden van het lachen, omdat ze zo blij, zo gelukkig was. She was almost silenced with laughter, because she was so happy, so overjoyed. Na een onderonsje met de bassist volgde een vertederend ... my boy ... Het was haar zoon. A chat with the bassplayer was followed by an endearing ... my boy ... It was her son.

Als toegift kregen we, hoe kon het ook anders, My Generation .As a bonus, as if there was any other option, we got My Generation. In een concert dat in het teken stond van leven en dood, hoop en vrijheid, was de tekst toepasselijk veranderd in " hope I live untill I get old" .In a concert that was dominated by life and death, hope and freedom, the text was appropriate changed to "I hope I live untill I get old". Wellicht met het idee "de jeugd heeft de toekomst" werden twee tiener-rasta-meisjes uit het publiek het podium opgehesen, om een dansje te doen.Perhaps in the spirit of "youth has the future" two rasta teen girls in the audience were hoisted on stage to do a dance. Ze waren te verbijsterd van geluk en versteenden bij vlagen. They were stunned with happiness and petrified at the same time. Patti deed een gitaar om om de feedback effecten uit dit lied te bewerkstelligen.Patti took a guitar in order to create the feedback effects from this song. De gitaar in de versterkers kapotslaan zoals Pete Townshend in 1965 deed, ging misschien te ver, maar wel werd de ene na de andere snaar geknapt. Smashing the amplifiers and the guitar like Pete Townshend did in 1965,  went too far, but one string after another was snapped. Onder een nagalmende feedback verliet de band het podium. Under a reverberant feedback the band left the stage. De zaallichten gingen aan en Jimi Hendix' Freedom klonk. The hall lights went on and Jimi Hendix's Freedom sounded. De roadies deelden set-lists, bloemen en prullaria uit onder het publiek. The roadies shared set-lists, flowers and knick-knacks with the public.

Het was een memorabele avond.It was a memorable evening.

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PIL at Paradiso

While the venue was slowly filling up, a man dressed in a suit with fluorescent yellow stripes and shoulders strode from back stage to front stage and back again. He studied the part of the balcony that was located above the stage. That had to be cleared and secured with a ribbon. Throughout the concert he was looking sternly from a corner of the stage.  Was Johnny afraid of beer-throwers and stage divers? That was the only reference to the Sex Pistols days, as the audience behaved quite tame today.  So this is what they look like now, the  kids with “no future” of 40 years ago: late 50’s, bald and an old leather jacket that no longer fits over their beer belly.

The lights went out, the band came on,  John Lydon last. A capella he sang the opening lines, then the band continued in the same double opening as the latest album What The World Needs Now: Double Trouble / Know Now. Immediately  followed by a brilliant performance of This Is Not A Love Song.

The rhythm section laid down a very solid foundation, with a bass so deep it could not be heard, but that did resonate your sternum. If the rhythm section was reinforced concrete, the guitarist was the diamond drill. Abrasive, shrill, shrieking, whining, crying - but the guitar never managed to escape the iron grip of drums and bass. Also John's staccato vocals remained trapped in the mix and often were just another color in the palette of sounds. Although his singing was not dominating the music, John was the absolute focus of the venue: stage center. Only during a few ultra-short, surprisingly melodic guitar solos the spotlight shifted to the guitarist.

Slowly we slid into a trance in which the distinction between the separate songs  faded. Were they new or old? Were they familiar or not? It did not matter, they all were chained by the rhythm section and the overall sound color. Thus time faded away, no beginning or end, no past or future, it came to a standstill. A feeling that you have when you're halfway a twelve month journey around the world, or, as someone told me, if you've smoked some good hasjies.

We landed back on earth with a long experimental psychedelic version of Religion. In the middle part there was just John's distorted voice over a delicate rhythmic touch of the drummer. At the end a chant: "Turn up the bass." That happened. The room turned into a vibrating plate, first shaking the fillings out of your teeth, and then the molars out of your jaws.

The encore consisted of tight performances of the crowd's favorites Public Image and Rise (with John's motto "anger is an energy"). John had pleasantly surprised us with an excellent band and an excellent show. As parting words he gave us  Amsterdam's my second home, and this way we can change the system.

More concert reviews 

Read more concert reviews (Breeders, Patti Smith)