Somerset House, London
“I’m sorry, I’m married to my work.”
The deified poet, artist and singer-songwriter Patti Smith concludes this year’s edition of Somerset House Summer Series in stoic fashion: one of remembrance, liberty and celebration.
For many stalwarts of their “rock revolution” heyday, the light of day has long come to pass. For Patti Smith, however, her stardom and ongoing legacy continues to age like the finest of wines, carrying forth the righteous rebellion tied to New York City’s revolutionary aura of the 1970s. Continuing this trend, Smith and her entourage appears before us tonight amidst a bare-boned stage design; beaming with a wide-brimmed smile, cascading grey hair and a resolute glow in her eyes which beams toward the sold-out crowd.
Rewinding the clock to this rock-fuelled era strikes us imminently, inciting Smith’s renowned spoken-word delivery of ‘Summer Cannibals’ (“Come on darling, eat / Eat the summer cannibals”) and ‘Ghost Dance’ where she implores us, hands shaking aloft, to collectively “shake out the ghost”. This evening, Smith’s Quartet band bolster her sounds with an eclectic ease, including her son Jackson Smith on guitar; birthing such reggae inflections and heart-torn lyricism of ‘Redondo Beach’ from her seminal LP, Horses, from almost fifty years prior (“You’ll never return to my arms ‘cause you were gone”).
Sporadic digressions from her main repertoire occur throughout, duly paying homage to musical inspirations who have passed (Fred “Sonic” Smith, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix) by virtue of myriad track covers. Whilst these renditions prove surprisingly enticing and inspiring, notwithstanding Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’, it’s expectedly her own hits which resonate with a greater vengeance. ‘Dancing Barefoot’ effortlessly careens amidst swirling guitars and inimitable poeticism (“The plot of our life sweats in the dark like a face”), whilst the resounding hit ‘Because the Night’ supercharges the crowd at its retributive chorus.
As tonight’s historic-telling set continues, the prowess of Smith’s veneer grows. ‘Pissing in a River’ offers a spellbinding crescendo amongst monolithic guitar riffs and swelling cries akin to Led Zeppelin, before coalescing into an emotive, elongated conclusion. Incrementally, the crowd gains confidence in their chants: "Marry me!", "I love you!", and “Free Palestine!” spurts from various corners with Smith astutely replying, “Free fucking everybody…fucking free everybody…fuck everybody”. Backed by The Clash’s Paul Simonon, Smith soon instigates the enveloping chorus of ‘People Have the Power’, ultimately guiding us into the warm breeze of this resonating Sunday night.
For yet another summer, Somerset House has concluded their Summer Series in magnanimous style. Through the sheer prowess of Patti Smith's Quartet tonight, the rock-revolutionary stalwart continues to transcend time as a once-in-a-generation talent whose music strives to enact societal change and offer a beacon of hope to those in need. Amongst the litany of dedications to such inspirations both and present, Smith’s presence and voice demands attention throughout; a fire which relentlessly rages on to this day and eternally beyond.
8.5/10
For further information on next year's Somerset House Summer Series, please visit here.
Photo is courtesy of AFP via Getty Images.
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