Patti Smith, Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, March 11, 2026
"“I’m trying to look 68."
Patti arrived in Ann Arbor for the promotion of her latest book, Bread of Angels. She was accompanied by her children Jackson and Jesse as well as the ever-affable Tony Shanahan. This was an event staged by the great local bookstore, Literati Books (who also hosted my much smaller book event for Why Patti Smith Matters!) held at the 1,700-seat Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor and was sold out.
Patti and the musicians took the stage a minute or two after the 7pm start time and opened with “Grateful,” explaining how she was grateful to play in Michigan with her son and daughter, given the role the state played in their existence. “Grateful” is a song that Patti often plays on guitar but did not need to given that Jackson was there, and yet there seemed to be some disconnect about how to play the song. Patti went over to Jack and he was either playing it differently than usual or the musicians could not hear what was being played in the monitors (a problem that would persist throughout the course of the evening; it seemed like the sound person was prepared for a spoken-word event and not one that had both music and reading). Agreement was reached on the correct chords and the song was performed, Patti’s ode to Jerry Garcia that acted as a larger benediction on the events of the evening to come.
At the song’s conclusion, Patti asked for the house lights to come down because they were still on full blast. The response was to bring down the lighting onstage. It took some negotiation before the houselights were brought down adequately and the stage lighting was adjusted — when they first came out, the lighting was not very flattering to Patti, to the extent that I almost picked up my phone to text friends to ask if they’d seen her recently and if she had looked okay to them, because despite having seen her five times in November and once in January, she did not look great. Once the lighting was adjusted and color returned to Patti Lee's face (and my blood pressure returned to normal), she read a passage from Bread of Angels regarding her youthful triumph over the neighborhood bully, Patti assuring us that there was not a single speck of exaggeration in the retelling. She also read a passage from the book about convalescing in South America, reading Emily Dickinson. (She’d come back to that chapter later in the evening.)
Caryn Rose
“My Blakean Year” followed, Tony Shanahan’s bass melody dominating the mix — probably not entirely intentional, but it wasn’t a bad thing at all. “Blakean Year” is Patti’s go-to when she does these kinds of events, mostly because she can play it herself solo, but it is as always a gentle reminder that she is always about the work. “Do we have the light situation worked out now?” she inquired after the song’s ending. “I’m trying to look 68,” she offers, before reading from the chapter about Hoedown Hall and the square dances across from their house in New Jersey.
Tony Shanahan moved to the piano for a wonderful rendition of “Man In The Long Black Coat,” the Dylan cover that subscribers to Patti’s newsletter got to watch her practice and teach herself a few years back. This version was exceptional because of Tony’s work on the keyboards. I relished the progression of watching her practice the song and how she improved from day to day and then got to enjoy the experience of seeing her perform it in Dublin in 2024, and so I appreciate its evolution into its current form.
Caryn Rose
There was a small glitch on one of the choruses that Patti apologized to Tony for, and then afterwards she explained that it wasn’t that she didn’t know the song, but that “sometimes the deep troubles of the world” distracted her: “It’s not me, it’s the fucking world.” She then told us she was going to read from a chapter called “Dancing Barefoot” and that “Dancing Barefoot” was a song she had written for Fred. There was a small wave of energy through the crowd when she mentioned her late husband, and she acknowledged it by saying, “Okay,” and pausing, and then the audience had a chance to offer a larger and more substantial acknowledgement before she continued reading the chapter about March 9, 1976, the night she met her husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith.
She read from this chapter when she appeared in the Detroit area back in January at a small private benefit, although this time the audience didn’t care about looking cool and instead cheered loudly for her mention of Lafayette Coney Island, the venue of that first meeting.
When she read about Fred handing her a button that had gotten detached from his coat: “He placed the button in my hand, and I wordlessly declared it treasure,” the entire audience awwwwwwwed sympathetically. (I confess to carefully watching Jackson and Jesse to see what their reaction might be, but they are old pros by now and betrayed nothing.)
I write about this in my book but given the geography I have to mention here that when Patti and Fred performed together for the last time in 1991, it was at the Tangerine Ballroom (fka Second Chance), which was practically across the street from the Michigan Theater (there's a plaque there now). Sonic introduced his wife as follows: "The first person I'd like to introduce, I met at a little coney island in Detroit called Lafayette Coney Island. (Yes, the crowd cheered for it.) If you're down that way, you might want to check it out. She was having a little pre-gig party, and I went just for the hot dogs and beer because I'd never really heard of her."
“Dancing Barefoot” follows, and I’m reminded of seeing her play this song in Seattle in 1995, 16 years after seeing it for the first time, and the ensuing years in which I thought I would never ever get to see it again. She used to take off her boots with great ceremony and then literally dance barefoot around the stage.
Back to the book, this time she’s reading about taking peyote with Robert Mapplethorpe in her apartment on MacDougal Street, across from where the Kettle of Fish originally was. I am thinking about her children listening to their mom talking about her drug usage in front of God and everybody. Tony is back at the piano and I don’t recognize the song, and wonder if it’s going to be something like the summer where she was enamored of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” and worked a beautiful version of it into the set; tonight, it turned out to be “Work” by Charlotte Day WIlson and it was similarly heartfelt.
Just like in the full band days, it was time for Patti to get a breather and tonight Tony gets the solo spotlight with a stunning cover of George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A Pity,” a song he performed with Patti at a George Harrison tribute event, held last year at Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Florida; he mentions how he got to perform it in front of Olivia Harrison and how meaningful that was to him. It was gorgeous and Jackson Smith’s guitar work was perfect; it reminded me of seeing Tony play “It Makes No Difference” a couple of days after Robbie Robertson’s passing, with the same care, reverence and depth of feeling. Patti and Jesse are snuggling together on the piano bench while this is all happening.
Caryn Rose
Patti returns and mentions that she and Tony wrote the next song in 2003, and “when I wrote it, I was hopeful.” What followed was a detailed rant about the situation in the Middle East and I would relate it to you in more detail except that I was extending myself the grace of just listening and feeling instead of chronicling. This led to a delicate, fragile "Peaceable Kingdom" that was not so much a balm as a memorial and a reminder.
Next up, Patti begins to tell the story of how she selected the producer for Easter, and this is not a story that is limited to Bread of Angels by any means, but I will never ever ever tire of hearing her talk about how Jimmy Iovine was a worker and how he walked a song out of the studio where he had been working with Bruce Springsteen. She does such a great Iovine imitation, about how he would call her to talk about something else and then ask, “Did you listen to it yet?” And of course, we all know where this is going — except that Patti informs us that it is actually Jimmy Iovine’s birthday and we are going to call him to wish him well. “PUT HIM ON SPEAKER,” yells someone in the audience. (When she was here in January, it was Joan Baez’ birthday and she called her, too.)
sorry for bad aspect ratio but they were busting people taking obvious video
Tony is back on piano — I have been told by people who are authorities on this subject that the intro to “Because the Night” might seem easy, but it is not — and the audience sings along with great gusto.
Back to the book, and she is reading from the very end, about New Year’s and how she is at home with her children, and the deep deep loss she clearly still feels: That is what I live for, the mist of his return. I am crying. My friends sitting next to me are crying. It is moving because it is so sad — Fred Smith was so young when he left — but it has an even deeper layer because we are here in Michigan where this story happened and three out of the four individuals in this story are onstage right in front of us.
One last story, one we all know by now, one I don’t even need to fact-check. Fred Smith comes into the kitchen and says, “People have the power, Tricia. Write it!” As Patti said tonight, she finished peeling the potatoes, she made dinner, she washed the dishes, she sat at her card table in the kitchen in the house on Beach Street in Saint Clair Shores and she wrote the song we all sing with her now, “People Have the Power.” We do.
Caryn Rose
if you enjoyed this may I suggest you will also enjoy this small book!
