Patti Smith and her $11 truck-stop jeans

Last Wednesday night around dusk I was walking down the street in beautiful Colorado, and I saw a sign that read "Patti Smith and Her Band, August 8 at Boulder Theater." And then I realized that August 8 was that very day, and that Boulder Theater was just around the corner. So after coughing up the 30 bucks and convincing the dude at the door that my I.D. was indeed not a fake, I stealthily snaked my way through the crowd and slid into the little nook between the far right corner of the stage and the big wall o' speakers. And the band came on right away, and it was my sixth time seeing Patti Smith ever but the first time in about five years, and I was such a silly giddy jumpy mess.

Apart from the covers of "Gimme Shelter" and "White Rabbit" and Neil Young's "Helpless," the fucking awesome renditions of "Redondo Beach" and "Gloria" and "We Three" and "Dancing Barefoot," and all the weirdo stage banter about Twin Peaks and long-lost children's books and televised talent shows from the 50s, my favorite part was when Patti told a story about buying a pair of jeans (or, uh, "dungarees") for $11 that afternoon at a truck stop. She was wearing the jeans onstage, along with cowboy boots, her trademark black blazer, and a white t-shirt Sharpie-graffitied with a peace sign and the word 'LOVE.' (She was also wearing a homemade peace-sign wristband, which I noticed when she came over and sat on the stage right in front of me and held hands with the five-year-old boy standing to my left - a real heart-clutcher of a moment if ever I've witnessed one.)

So, yeah, here's some more blurry pictures of Patti Smith and her $11 truck-stop jeans. I hope that if you've never seen Patti Smith live, then you will someday, even if you think you don't care about her much: It's terribly unlikely that any other rock star in the world might ever make you feel so excited about being a living breathing human.

(Please note the presence of the wonderful Lenny Kaye in half of these photos. Another one of my favorite moments from last Wednesday was when Lenny got on the mike and sang "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds, and in the middle of the song Patti danced up to him and did all these funny poses, like blowing on her nails and looking so bored - oh my god! And during "Dancing Barefoot" he caught me gazing at him so doe-eyed and adoringly, and he broke into a charmingly amused grin and then my face turned something redder than the reddest fire engines and/or candy apples.)

Posted by Liz in Soundtracks
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