Can you imagine Patti Smith’s concert without “Gloria”? The opening song of her iconic first album. Not only one of her most popular songs that kicked off her career as Queen of Punk, “Gloria” was a necessary ’70s punk anthem to describe the golden era of the underground scene.

That actually happened. Patti didn’t play “Gloria”. Even though many fans shouted the title, she didn’t respond.

And that was the concert didn’t need “Gloria”. The setlist was excellent. We felt power. We felt the joy of being alive. We gained positiveness. We even experienced, not only witnessed, history. What else did we need? None of her fans complained about her choice not to play the masterpiece.

The concert was the postponement of her 75th birthday bash originally scheduled on December 28, 2 days before her birthday. 75 years old…generally speaking, the age was much beyond the decline in musicianship, especially a live performance; performance abilities, power, edges, thrills, attractions, etc. Many artists in her generation had already retired after their farewell tours. Condemn me, that was what I expected from Patti Smith’s concert; a shrunk performance. I just wanted to see her again before her retirement. Nothing was expectable in this world.

I am on the verge of self-redemption now.

Still punk. Radical maximum.

Patti Smith’s performance was super solid. Soft-spoken Patti changed herself into the goddess of agitation and kept blowing everyone’s mind at her boiling points, like the evolution from a friendly cat to a roaring tiger. Her vocal performance had no sign of decline. Powerful and stable until the end of the show. Rather her voice gained more emotion as the show went on. On the other hand, during the slow songs such as “Maria”, Patti was a mother of healing by spiritually hugging, and touching everybody’s heart. The Queen of Punk showed what the real punk guitar was supposed to be when she held an electric guitar. When she spoke, her messages were meaningful and ear-catching. Sure, sometimes she forgot lyrics as she admitted, but so what. Patti Smith was still the Queen of Punk. She was still in full revolutional spirit like Radio Ethiopia. Not ’70s punk revival but still real-time punk.

Patti Smith had never been stereotyped. She refused to be stereotyped. She wasn’t typical 75 years old on the stage. Hence nothing strange even she didn’t sing “Gloria”. She had a reason not to sing the famous song (she told the audience how she pursued her decisions on the stage “oh-oh, be careful. When a fan screamed not to read a poem but sing, I did exactly the same for another 27 minutes!”

The setlist with 19 songs was widely selected from Patti’s albums in 47 years of her career from the debut. From her first album Horses (1975) to her 11th and the latest studio album, Banga (2012). From Patti’s classics like “Redondo Beach” and “Because of the Night” to relatively new such as “Maria” and “Nine” from Banga. Only the original album Patti didn’t sing was her 7th album in 1997, Peace and Noise. The setlist wasn’t limited to Patti’s originals but also several covers like The Door’s “Soul Kitchen” and Burt Bacharach’s “My Little Red Book”. None of the five cover songs on the stage was from her cover album, Twelve, in 2007. She sang Stevie Wonder on the stage but not “Pastime Paradise” from the cover album…her choice was “Blame It On The Sun”. Patti Smith was known for a poetry reading as well, and she didn’t betray that part, either. The concert opening was not a typical way, starting with reading poetry “The Salvation of Rock”, it was a quiet start but effectively succeeded to gain attention on her. The following “25th Floor” from her 3rd album Easter was, in contrast, more punk and kicking than the recording. The unique setlist was the reflection only Patti could do.

The setlist created 3 phenomenal highlights. One was “Beneath The Southern Cross”. This song from her 6th album, Gone Again (1996), should be one of Patti’s favorite songs in her lengthy career, I listened to the song on many of her special occasions and the song was getting one of her signature songs. That time too, on Patti’s postponed birthday concert, “Beneath The Southern Cross” became more than special with her band’s professional work and passionate fans. The double acoustic guitars by Patti and her lifelong musical partner Lenny Kaye portrayed the pure wintery southern sky. Each tone of electric guitar and bass linked the southern cross and sparked magic. The emotional background vocal by the bassist expressed the burning stars and invited fans into the mysterious night sky. The universe the whole band drew by their instrumentals was more dramatic than the limited view in a telescope. Just about getting into climax, Patti shouted. “Come on, people. Raise your arms, raise your arms. Feel your blood, feel your spirit…feel your energy. Feel your fucking freedom!! We are alive! We are alive! And we will navigate our fucking world!!” That was the moment we all united under the illusional southern cross in the name of freedom. Joy to the freedom. Hail to freedom. Under the command of the fighting Queen in militia clad.

When the song was over like a storm, I felt like my spirit was out of my body. Did I just experience it? I felt like I witnessed and experienced the history. A rave moment like Woodstock. While I was still feeling a time-lapse shock, Patti Smith gave us another radical kick at the end of the main set. That was “Rock n’ Roll Nigger” from Easter album with the mixture of U2’s “Vertigo”. While her selection of U2’s song was quite sensational for me already, that sensation wasn’t enough. Patti received her old black and white Fender from crews and started playing the riffs. The thing was, it was so visible that half of the strings were cut even from the audience. Like the concert’s promotional flyer. The staff and Lenny Kaye seemed a little concerned, but Patti didn’t give a fuck and kept playing aggressively with messing her hair. Her performance was cutting edge. That was one of the most unforgettable guitar solos, not based on technique but attitude. She played by her inspiration. Spontaneous like a jam session. Patti was a charismatic fire while singing “Johnny…” with holding the guitar after the solo. A true rock icon figure. I hadn’t seen that type of performance in real-time before. That was an attitude adjustment moment. The Queen of Punk taught her fans what the real punk guitar was. No. Before that, the rock legend showed us what the real good ol’ rock concert was supposed to be, unlike the organized shows back by numerous rehearsals nowadays (though I’m sure Patti and her band prepared a lot before the show).

The third climax came at the last when Patti sang “People Have The Power”. That was the conclusion of what Patti Smith had sent us the important messages throughout the concert. We had the power. For ourselves. Thus we have freedom including standing up for our rights, happiness, and positiveness. Revolutionary? No. They are our human rights, but unfortunately, sometimes those our rights are sacrificed. Her fans were filled with the joy of being alive and being able to experience the history with that anthem.

Another notable thing besides Patti Smith was the professional work of her band. They eliminated our misunderstanding that punk didn’t care about technic. Each of the veteran musicians showed the masterwork of instrumental backed by their experience. One of the most solid and stable live performances I’d ever seen. Lenny Kaye fully understood Patti Smith as a musician in their more than 50 years relationship. His guitar perfectly supported Patti’s vocal performance and still ignited ultimate chemistry. The fashionable Jay Dee Daugherty, another long-run member from Patti’s debut, kept showing a strong presence on the bold rhythm works with his simple drum set, along with the thick bass line of t-bone Tony Shanahan. The most ear-catching musician was Jack Petruzzelli. His smoothly melodious yet technical guitar with impressive riffs added additional thrills to the solid teamwork. Each musician was taking the task of craftsmanship to create powerful music together to support Patti Smith. That was professionalism. Patti Smith and the band proved that age was just a number in their case even though they were mainly seniors. No decline, no shrinking. All of them kicked our ass. Their tight performance was still driven by edges and aggressiveness many younger magicians wouldn’t be able to beat. The band’s professional work was one of the big reasons for the concert’s success.

L-R: Jack Petruzzelli, Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye

Patti Smith was more than Queen of Punk that night. Queen of Rock. Rocket Queen. And we were drowned in her eternal charisma. Because of the night.

The Queen of Punk also preached to the audience a very important life lesson backed by her experience that I still clearly remember after 4 months. How to spend the daily life positively. “How great life is…a lotta staff are fucked up about it but it’s also, every single day, there is something cool. One cool thing, in 24 hours, if you have one cool moment, it’s all worth it…If you experienced one (good) thing, that was a good day”