Lime Wire Music Blog: Surprise Guest Patti Smith Electrifies All-Star Who Tribute: The Smithereens one-upping themselves by segueing from their take-no-prisoners rampage through “The Seeker” into an explosive “Sparks”;
The Carnegie Hall stage had already seen more than its share of top-shelf artists on Tuesday evening for its tribute to The Who, from current (The Postelles, Gaslight Anthem) to classic (everyone from Bob Mould to 82-years-young Mose Allison), and after the last of the artists listed in the evening’s program had played, the assumption was that the next occurrence would be the inevitable all-hands-on-deck singalong finale.
But before that happened, a collective gasp could be heard as the audience suddenly realized that punk godmother Patti Smith was making her way to the front of the stage, flanked by original band members Lenny Kaye (who had just been on stage accompanying Robyn Hitchcock’s acoustic version of “Substitute”) on guitar and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums.
Together (with some help from the house band) they cranked out a raging, rabble-rousing version of the original punk anthem, “My Generation,” with Smith bending the lyrics to suit her will, ultimately turning the classic ode to alienation into a rallying cry, as she howled at the enraptured audience to rise up and use their power to make a change in the world.
All the while, the band was working up a vintage CBGB-style din, to which Smith added some guitar sabotage of her own, flailing at her axe until the strings began to break and fly off, until, in her final dramatic gesture, she wrenched the few remaining strings off the guitar herself, a perfect parting moment of musical anarchy.
While it quickly became apparent that the audience had just witnessed the most unforgettable, electrifying moment of the already-impressive night, there were plenty of other powerful performances over the course of the show.
Some of the other highlights including a typically heart-wrenching performance from soul queen Bettye Lavette, reprising the tear-tugging take on “Love Reign O’er Me” she had unveiled at the Kennedy Center’s own Who tribute in December 2008; Raul Midon delivering a hypnotic, solo-acoustic version of “Eight Miles High,” Gaslight Anthem singer Brian Fallon hitting notes even Roger Daltrey can’t reach anymore on “Baba O’Riley”; The Smithereens one-upping themselves by segueing from their take-no-prisoners rampage through “The Seeker” into an explosive “Sparks”; and Mose Allison’s medley of his own “Young Man Blues” — famously covered by The Who on Live At Leeds — and his 1990s sequel “Old Man Blues,” wryly offering a view from the other side of coin.
http://blog.limewire.com/posts/37176-surprise-guest-patti-smith-electrifies-all-star-who-tribute/ |
