Patti Smith

New Year’s Eve always seems to disappoint. Plans get left to the last minute, friends don’t show up, bars get too crowded, you don’t order those tequila shots in time for the ubiquitous midnight toast. And then it’s morning and you’ve got another 365 days to look forward to.

Well, not this year. In the interest of planning early—of not procrastinating—we’ve got a handful of New Year’s Eve shows for you, all courtesy of Bowery Presents. You already know about My Morning Jacket and we’ve already told you about Patti Smith, so here’s Blonde Redhead, Crystal Castles, and A Place to Bury Strangers.

Kazu Makino and identical twins Simone and Amedeo Pace are strikingly beautiful physical specimens—the prom king[s] and queen of indie rock.  read more »

If you haven’t yet made plans for New Year’s Eve (and you don’t already have My Morning Jacket tickets for their Madison Square Garden show), you might want to consider Ms. Patti Smith for your evening’s festivities. While Smith doesn’t exactly have a new studio album to promote, she’s certainly been in the headlines this year. July saw the release of The Coral Sea—a live rendering of a Smith poem of the same name, and one dedicated to her good friend Robert Mapplethorpe, backed by My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields on guitar. And then ther'es Dream of Life—Steven Sebring’s epic documentary on Smith’s music and life—released the following month.  read more »

At Kenmare and Cleveland, a block party is getting underway in front of La Esquina, the super-hip, faux taco shop. Not-for-profit art gallery Storefront is setting up a soundsystem, and projecting ABC on the giant wall above the restaurant, which is giving out free hot chocolate. The big news? Storefront director Joseph Grima says that Patti Smith might come by and play a few tunes.  (Wondering what time? He's hoping for sometime between now and 9.) Also expected: neighborhood regulars Andre Balazs, Rogan (the designer) and Taavo Somer, of that other hipster fave, Freemans.

Patti Smith, the godmother of punk rock, is still going strong. In October of 2006, she brought the curtain down on CBGB with a fiery closing night performance at the legendary Bowery venue. More recently, she’s garnered acclaim for her live double disc and Robert Mapplethorpe tribute, The Coral Sea, on which she collaborated with Kevin Shields of My Blood Valentine. And Steven Sebring’s new documentary, Patti Smith: Dream of Life (shot over the course of 11 years), was also met with critical praise. Next on her agenda? Writing the intro for a new book of photography by Jessica Lange.  read more »

Also on Friday, May 9, the Chelsea Hotel’s grand ballroom was opened for the first time in years, hung with more than 100 photographs of the ancient bohemian enclave and its many edgy inhabitants, including rockers Patti Smith and Dee Dee Ramone.  read more »

Patti Smith – the Jersey-born queen of Bowery punk – hits the silver screen with Steven Sebring’s documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life. The film should hit theaters in late summer, with a DVD release to follow next year, Variety reports. Mr. Sebring’s debut picked up a grand jury nomination at Sundance earlier this year.

After Mr. Sebring met the singer during a Spin photo shoot, the photographer followed her around for 11 years. “That’s what I wanted the film to be – just me discovering Patti over the years,” Sebring said during a TV segment for the film’s Sundance premiere. “We mostly just hang out.”  read more »

Don't call Patti Smith a punk rocker. While attending a screening of Steven Sebring’s new film, Patti Smith: Dream of Life, which intimately documents the life and career of the 61-year-old New York City icon, Ms. Smith was asked by a reporter how she felt being labeled as such. According to Reuters, she replied:

“Every time you see a journalist that calls me a punk rocker, it's because they don't have the imagination or the professional intelligence or the curiosity or see the full breadth of what I've done.”  read more »

Aging punk poet Patti Smith nearly tumbled off London's Shepherd's Bush Empire stage recently, injuring her elbow. She eventually found "balance" and laughed it off, according to NME.

Smith, 60, was in the capital performing one of her Rock N Rimbaud gigs, dedicated to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, when, during a fiery encore of 'Rock N Roll Nigger', she tripped on a speaker and fell flat on her face, cutting her elbow.

Despite not getting up for a few agonising seconds, the singer finally rose to loud cheers, humorously following the fall with a speech about "not losing your balance" in life.

She then gave the speaker a kick in retaliation.

"I'm not even fucking embarrassed because I've done far worse," Smith laughed. "May [guitars] be the only weapons we use, may tripping up be the only humiliations we suffer, and may these [pointing to her scuffed elbow] be the only battle scars."

On Friday, Sept. 14, at the Beacon Theatre, songwriter and singer Patti Smith gave her annual show in remembrance of her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, who died of a heart attack in 1994. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was joined onstage by son Jackson on guitar and daughter Jesse on ukulele.  read more »

On Feb.  read more »

When last we caught up with CBGBs, Patti Smith was closing the party down in a fine fettle. The other day, Sydney Beveridge met up with CBGB's proprietor and pals to ask: No really, what's next for the old punksters?

After the eviction of CBGBs, Hilly Kristal packed up the awning and innards. They are currently sitting in a Connecticut storage facility. A few items are on eBay, and the rest is indeed, as suggested, off to Nevada.

"CBGBs is not ending. It's just moving," Mr. Kristal said. "Unfortunately, I wish we could stay in New York but we're probably going to go to Las Vegas because the mayor and the mayor's office want us there and this mayor doesn't care, so it makes a difference." Mr. Kristal had actually had a meeting with the City of New York, and visited a potential venue—a former chicken slaughterhouse, unreconstructed—but the move would have required $5 million up front.

This was at a CMJ panel, at Alice Tully Hall. There was Chris Stein, co-founder and guitarist of Blondie. "Las Vegas is probably one of the shittiest places in the world and in 1975 New York was probably one of the shittiest places in the world too, so in that respect, maybe it's a good thing," he said. With the gentrification of the Lower East Side in full effect—Whole Foods in the Bowery— Mr. Stein thinks it's all over. "I saw Patti Smith quoted as saying 'Well, the young people are going to find their own shithole to play in,' and that's a nice concept, but I think it's a fantasy—because if you have to spend $2,000 a month for rent, how much time can you devote to your band and/or art?" Darryl Jenifer, bassist of the Bad Brains,

Will this venue be able to relocate successfully? There was Darryl Jenifer, bassist of the Bad Brains. "The spirit of CBGBs—it's living it's real," he said. "It could go anywhere—Japan, anywhere. This talk about New York...CBs has founded itself already in entertainment and bringing people to music. That's why I still can't understand why the club is closing."

"I've always envisioned New York City as Escape from New York in reverse," Mr. Sttein said, "where you have to show your papers to get in. They're going to build a big fucking wall around the place and you're going to have to show you have a bank account to get inside."

Despite all this Las Vegas talk, Mr. Kristal still says he'd like to return CBGBs to New York within a few years. Until then, the shirts and book are still for sale, and the MySpace page is picking up hits as Nevada prepares for the relocation. —Sydney Beveridge

An Odd Bradley EventBill Bradley's New York backers are steeling themselves for a thumping in the Ma  read more »

Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography , by Victor Bockris and Roberta Bayley.  read more »