Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/30/patti-smith-horses-concert.html
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I saw Patti at Willy Nelson’s Opry House in Austin during a tour for ‘Easter’. My GOD, that was loud! The only way you could tell that she was literally ripping the strings off her guitar was visually. Not too many people could get away with a song that prominently had the word ‘nigger’ in it.
I’m looking forward to seeing this! I’ve seen Patti Smith a few times but wasn’t able to get to her Horses concerts.
My favorite live moment with her was back in the mid-90s in Cincinnati; she was playing a local club and in the middle of the third or fourth song, she suddenly waved her arms and said “Stop stop stop, stop the music. I just looked down and I saw this mom with her little kid right up front. Hey lady, how old is your kid, man? She’s eight? Man, I can’t do this. A kid shouldn’t be in a rock club with all the beer and loud music. Let kids be kids, man. Refund her money, please.” As they escorted the woman out, Patti was saying, “Rock is for when she’s older, man. Let kids be kids. Go play outside! Get some ice cream. I can’t be up here doing Rock and Roll Nigger with an eight year old right up front, fuck.” And then they started the show again.
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This album was one of the ones that really changed my life in the seventies. I missed her Horses Tour last year (those things are expensive now!), so I’m pleased to know I’ll still be able to watch it, albeit filtered through the documentary lens.
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Sadly, you don’t get much more un-punk than that.
(Then again, I have hung out in my fair share of smoky clubs as a young kid had a blast! I bet that kid was having the time of her life, too.)
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That’s what I kinda loved about it. She’s an aging punk who’s a mom above all else, and her mom side was showing while she was trying to be a punk. It was cute, her trying to look out for this little kid during her show 
Only time I waited on line for a record signing, Patti and three other band members in Paramus NJ at Alexanders. She quoted poetry and signed, quite a force of nature.
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