Quick review: Patti Smith

I had waited for this gig for oh so long. When the day finally arrived I was not sure I was ready to really appreciate the enormousness of seeing Patti Smith perform live in front of my eyes.

We had gone through the trouble of reserving seats at Tempodrom, we made sure to be early, heck, we even bought a t-shirt. This was fandom unlike us. But this is because this woman has been so inspiring over the years, has shown so many women the way, has stuck to her ideals and roots unlike many other musicians.

And it was that kind of performance, too. There was no stage design as such, just her, her band (whom she has been with since way into the last century) and a cup of tea to sooth an aching throat. She looked wild with her straggly hair and her pirate-inspired clothes. They played all the hits, she corresponded with the audience and near the end she gave her famous freedom speech. All that you expected but better.

This was one of the few shows that I have been to where the majority of attendees was female and many were over 60. During the rockier anthems women would get up from their seats and start dancing wildly, the grey hair flowing, fists raised into the air. It was so inspiring. I have taken away from this to be more myself, true to myself, stick to my ideals best as I can.

As an afternote: I watched A Man Within, a documentary about the personal life of William S. Burroughs, this week and Patti Smith plays a large part in this. It shows her with Burroughs in the 70s and the way she sang for him, how he admired her and edged her on. It says a lot about Patti Smith, as much as it does about Burroughs.

Review: Jack White

Was I excited? Hell yeah! Did I have particular expectations? Nah.

I am guessing that Tempodrom works better for some performers than for others. For Jack White, it was pretty damn perfect. That's because, ideally, you would want to see this man in a small smokey bar up close. But because fame has graced this talented individual, you have to content with large venues, and as far as large venues go Tempodrom is one of the cosier ones. It's a giant tent after all.

Like I said in my preview, there is a bit of a Jack White fan in all of us, some of you may just not know it. It has been generally agreed that the man is a musical genius, having been honoured in the film "It might get loud", among other accolades. This praise aside, not everyone agrees with his actual songs or, more importantly, with the individual himself. The press usually struggles to make out who this man is. He has publicly received good and bad feedback from band members and staff. He appears to be a notorious liar, making up his own biography as he goes along ("Now, is that his sister or his wife?"). And while he continuously quotes the blues as his major influence, most of the music is rather rock'n'roll and mass accessible.

Quick review: New Order

I think a lot of people will testify that New Order holds a special place in their lives. In my case, New Order is the band that embodies my childhood. My mother was a big fan and I associate New Order's Blue Monday, the greatest dance hit of all time, with large-scale Goa parties by the Indian Ocean in the early mornings. So it was rather odd to see my mum off home to Belgium in the morning and then be invited to watch New Order at Tempdrom in the evening.

And what's not to like? Seeing Blue Monday or Joy Division classics like Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart perform live by those who wrote these pearls of music is a prizeless experience. Even if it's at a large venue, even if the light show was way over the top (albeit fascinating), even if a cinema screen size projection didn't quite fit the simplicity of Joy Division's Isolation. Even if. It's New Order / Joy Division live, in front of my eyes, playing those songs to perfection.

And just to see Stephen Morris solo would have made my week, month, year. What a drummer! Make love to me - now!

Bliss.