A greeting to the beauties of Naples and Pompeii: at 21pm, among the ruins of the Teatro Grande of Pompeii, the figure of Patti Smith appears on stage, with all her iconic power.
“I am grateful to be here with you”: these are the words with which the singer-songwriter, poet, photographer and artist originally from Chicago greeted the approximately 3 spectators who had gathered at the historic Roman stage, already the setting for legendary shows such as that of Pink Floyd in 1972, before attacking “Grateful” followed, without interruption, by “Redondo Beach”.
After two days spent on the streets of Naples, where Patti Smith took the opportunity to visit Giuseppe Sanmartino's Veiled Christ at the Sansevero Chapel and Caravaggio's "The Works of Mercy" at the Pio Monte della Misericordia Chapel, the (sold out) theater of Pompeii is thus illuminated by the grace and energy of the priestess of rock who, accompanied by her son Jackson Smith on guitar, Tony Shanahan on bass and Sed Rochford on drums, treats the audience to a volcanic setlist.
Historic songs like “Dancing Barefoot”, “My Bleaken Year” and “Nine” alternated with compositions like “Beneath the Southern Cross” (a messianic version that features a virtuoso exchange of solos with a final tribute-quote to Pink Floyd’s “Money”) or “Boy Cried Wolf” (with a special dedication by Smith to all the “senseless” American victims who died from firearms).
The dedication to his lifelong friend Allen Ginsberg was touching, with the performance of the song by the poet and symbol of the Beat Generation “Footnote to Howl”, as was the unreleased acoustic version of Dylan’s classic “One Too Many Mornings”.
But there is no shortage of interpretations of illustrious covers with the impetuous force of Dylan's "Wicked Messenger" or with the amusing version of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" (sung by Tony Shanahan) or, again, with Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush". The triptych of milestones composed of "Gloria", "Pissing in a river" and the Springsteenian "Because the night", preceded by the English reading of Giacomo Leopardi's "L'infinito", have paved the way for the overwhelming encore of "People have the power", which seals the finale of a show balanced between spirituality and rock that already has the flavor of history.
After the show in Naples, the Italian mini-tour will continue in Rome (July 27), Stresa (July 29) and Cervia (July 31), with what will probably be, as Smith herself confessed in recent days, the singer-songwriter's last live dates, before a long creative silence that will keep her away from the stage.
Article published on 27 July 2022 - 00:07
