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Rating: There was a lot of anticipation for this concert. The San Severino blues, by inviting Patti and her band, made a real hit, as she (Patti) is the most important artist that has ever come to this festival. Certainly, in the past, important artists have come, such as Alvin Lee (former 10 Years After guitarist), Dr. John, James Taylor, Treves, Blues Brothers, Suzanne Vega, but never anyone of the level where Patti belongs.
I, wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and Ozzy-style sunglasses, felt like an idiot, but with the help of a kebab with chili pepper and spicy sauce, I felt extremely ready and excited for what is the most important concert I have ever attended.
It's about half past nine; here she comes. First, the members of her group enter, and then, under a loud round of applause, there she is, entering with her cowboy hat, a jacket over a t-shirt with "Peace & Love" written on it, and her high boots, greeted like a true cult figure, Patti Smith, a rock legend.
She starts immediately with the notes of Dancing Barefoot, already taking off her jacket. On stage, she performs sensual movements the entire time (with all respect to her, but she is certainly no Kim Basinger in beauty), the audience is affectionate with her, chanting her song’s choruses, and shouting at certain moments Patti! Patti! Patti!, she's pumped, and it shows in how she moves, winks, jokes both with her bandmates and with the audience. The songs she performed are roughly all those from her latest Greatest Hits, plus other covers.
It’s incredible how someone of a certain age like her, full of scars in her memory, can get so excited and perform her pieces as energetically as a 24-year-old girl. Her voice is perfect, and Gloria, People Have the Power, Because the Night, Pissing in a River are truly amazing, being as powerful live as on the record, something only the greats manage to do (except Deep Purple and the Ramones, who manage to do even better live than on record).
The only downside is the covers: indeed, on Soul Kitchen, the immense indifference of the great Jim Morrison is missing to sing it well, while with Smells Like Teen Spirit, the great anger that Cobain and Co. had is missing. Anyway, in the end, she provides 3 encores, including Rock n Roll Nigger and the cover of Perfect Day.
In short, it was a great concert, for a great artist, who reaffirms herself among the top 20-30 artists of the century.
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