a long time ago in the mid seventies
when there wasnt much good going on
i bought patti smith groups horses n i loved it
i loved its wild amateurish experimental punky poetic blah blah
patti looked great on the cover
i listened to it a lot
as her following albums came out
although i bought em
i was liking em less n less
but i still liked em
and each one had some great moments
but i guess i stopped listening after wave
tho i couldnt tell you why
in 1988 we met up with tom verlaine
who used to heartily recommend jay dee as a drummer
when ploogy went
jay was our first choice
he was a great player n a cool cat
we made the excellent priest =aura record
and he was an invaluable member
when we parted company later on
it was amicable and weve all always remained friends
jay always pops up in new york when we play there
so i was excited to get invited by him to the opera house
i ‘d never seen patti play live and i was curious
i’m looking for role models who are still rockin’
in their twilight years n she fits the bill
a handful of olde rockers you can vaguely still admire
keith, marianne faithful, dylan, cohen, young
( n killer)
(ha ha)
but i gotta say patti was looking great
pretty much like she always did
on stage at any rate
i had one of them side box seats
so i saw it all in profile
gone was a lot of excess i’d heard about
with patti playing the clarinet and feedback guitar for hours
tonites show was the creme de la creme
but still that dichotomy of the new /old material remains
for her
for me
for anyone
tonites show was mainly oldies
songs going back 30 odd years now
they sounded just dandy
just like the records in fact
the band played great
surprised to see the guitarist with the hat was pattis son jackson
lenny kaye looked great :skinny and a great mop of straight grey hair
jay hadnt changed much …dapper in a white suit behind a big kit
patti dressed in jeans biker boots t shirt n jacket
jumping around like ive seen on her videos n youtube
it was all you coulda asked for
maybe it was my sidelong position
wish i’d been out the front
but i just never got carried away
but everyone else did
inc. hoodoo gurus sitting directly in front of me
who were going wild…
this however is not the bands fault but mine
still brooding on the horrible night before
and fearing it all again on saturday
i was envious of my olde compadre jay playin’ at the house
and how i wished i was up there strutting the boards
and my envy rather ruined it for me
if only i hadnt done the nite before it wouldnt have been like that
at least i’m honest….
afterwards i met the drones who played a great opening spot
the drones are a band to watch they are intensely intense!
gareth very very kindly took me backstage where i met jay
hes wearing a hearing aid now
he was the first guy i knew with really bad tinitus
and wherever he is now
i will be where i am in a couple of years
jay dee is the nicest kindest humblest guy you ever met
a true gent n scholar
i am genuinely happy for him to be doing well
after some lean years when patti stopped touring…
and he was very fit n healthy
i briefly shook hands with la smith herself
but she was tired (i guess) and not that loquacious
i walked away from the opera house
into the lonely night
full of so many conflicting emotions
i had bad dreams all night n got very little sleep
confused dreams of searching for jay n patti in the
complicated rabbit warren of rooms n corridors backstage
in the fucking sydney opera house
8th wonder of the modern world
but a little tame as far as a rocknroll gig
patti smith is a wonder still looking n sounding fantastic at 61
i realise how much i like jay
n how much i miss his amiable brooklyn humour
and i’m glad i got to see this band
you never know when it could be the last time
meanwhile
i’m playing with an ad hoc band on friday night
for sculptures by the sea party
then sat nite at manly
i beseech thee to come
mission if you aint there im gonna weep…!
then sunday from 10 till 2 playing at tamarama beach for sculptures/sea
the ad hoc band of which i am a part not the front man
features reg n pete o’doherty the artists ex mentals
johnny z n hamish who ive played with before
and brendan g n bernie h guitarists n singers
so interesting to see how i fit in with that lot
we did providence last year n it was a rambling delight
uh huh
yeah
but i’m still feeling really weird…..

strange