THERE was something incongruous about having the legendary punk poet Patti Smith play at an ultra-civilised concert hall.
You might think the raven-haired seventies icon would be more at home in a dingy New York basement club, but within minutes she had made The Sage her own.
She even gave the venue a new nickname - frequently referring to the award-winning Norman Foster creation as the "huge shining peanut".
A cover of the Bob Dylan track Changing of the Guards was delivered with an uncanny Zimmerman impersonation as a gift to the great man on his birthday, and Smith proved more than equal to the task of taking on Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. Watching her rip through that spine-tingling opening verse - you'd be forgiven for thinking it had always been her song.
Most of the tracks from the setlist were covers from her recent album Twelve, but the glimpses from her own back catalogue were delivered with startling conviction.
She gracefully accepted a rose from a member of the audience before dancing around to Because The Night. Rock and Roll N***** was preceded by a rant about the first world/third world divide - a reminder, as if we needed it, that her righteous fire hasn't dimmed with age.
By the end, the crowd were left stunned by a flawless performance by a true rock and roll great - yet to become jaded, and as relevant as ever.
Corinna Burridge
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