patti smith @ 92y.

tonight the 92y hosted an evening with patti smith—writer, visual artist, musician, national book award winner and performer extraordinaire. smith read excerpts from just kids, some selected poetry, and performed songs off horses, the seminal album of the patti smith group.

of all the events i’ve been to at the 92y, this was one of the most memorable. i don’t think the 92y has ever housed that many leather jackets and aging hippies before. the people in attendance were a mix of older fans who knew her first through her music and a newer generation that found her through just kids. myself being one of the latter, the musical portion of the reading floored me, especially when smith was joined onstage by sam shephard and lenny kaye.

hopefully the 92y will upload the audio from tonight’s reading. it is well worth a listen, if only to hear patti smith rave about hickory, the deerhound she fell in love with while watching the westminister dog show under the influence of jet-lag. apparently she focused on sending mental signals to the italian judge because ‘she has always had a good relationship with italy.’ hickory the deerhound won westminister and tonight patti smith dedicated her poem about bob dylan’s dog to hickory.