More about: Patti SmithHigher Ground Festival

When it comes to seeing heritage acts, however spectacular the show, you’re often left with the feeling the whole exercise is about box ticking – bands you know you should see – rather than catching an act at their peak. 

Patti Smith certainly fits into the ‘heritage’ folder on paper - her classic  album ‘Horses’  was, let’s not forget, released nearly 50 years ago – but in the flesh, it’s a very different matter. She attacks her set with such missionary zeal and righteous energy, it’s clear she’s still very much a woman on a mission rather than one reflecting on past glories. 

Higher Ground was originally planned for an outdoor stage at Alexandra Palace, and although the relocation the sweatier surroundings of the Palladium means only two support acts, they both make total sense as modern day inheritors of Smith’s mystique and fem-power. Connie Constance is a frenetic performer, her lyrics seemingly telling of self-questioning and rage, set to a fuzzy pop-edged punk sound.  Nadine Shah is a closer relation to the headliner’s sound, playing on magical eeriness and more atmospheric arrangements, topped with a voice that’s blessed with Siouxsie Sioux-like command. 

Of course, when it comes to Smith herself, such intimate surroundings only serve to stoke the fire in audience and performer alike.  Taking to the stage to ‘Redondo Beach’ from ‘Horses’,  she’s accompanied by a typically no frills backing  band of twin guitars, bass and drums.   

Smith is often portrayed as punk rock’s John The Baptist, arriving to warm and unsuspecting public that the main event will be arriving any minute.  While that’s certainly true, it’s only part of a much more impressive story.  Her set tonight is about joining the dots, not only between hippy and punk, poetry and music but across generations and even centuries.  Her love for hallucinatory visionary William Blake is no secret – the last time she was in London she visited his grave – and tonight she gives an impassioned reading of his poem ‘The Tyger’ before launching into a brooding, moody version of ‘My Blakean Year’ from her 2004 album ‘Trampin’.

The rest of her set list reads like a who’s who of authority challenging activism for beginners –  covers of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, a poem by New York beat poet Allen Ginsberg, and a truly roasting rendition of The Stooges ‘I Wanna Be your Dog’, with Smith’s longtime right hand man and lead guitarist Lenny Kaye taking vocal duties. 

The closing moments –  the momentum filled version of Them’s ‘Gloria’ and the rabble rousing encore of ‘People Have The Power’ – have been familiar fixtures for some time but they still bring the house down, the latter sending us home feeling empowered and buoyant in the face of the political misery currently facing the world.  Which other heritage act currently doing the rounds can claim that? 

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More about: Patti SmithHigher Ground Festival