Patti Smith gives an intimate concert in la Huerta de San Vicente in Granada

Those who have been following this blog for a little while now, know how much I love Granada. I haven’t talked to you yet about a certain public garden called El Parque Federico Garcia Lorca which hides a little house La Huerta de San Vicente. It used to be the summer house of the family of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Since then, it has been converted in a museum and during summer, concerts are given in the little yard of the house. Last night, we went to listen to rock singer and poetess Patti Smith. Monchéri confessed me once, being much more attracted by Patti Smith than by Claudia Schiffer so naturally we couldn't miss her only one intimate concert in Granada.


And intimate it was.
We were perhaps over a hundred persons to attend the event.
I stood up queuing up while Monchéri decided to sit on a bench and relax.


The little yard outside the house was soon filled up.





And there she was, looking quite frail, wearing simple blue jeans,
a white tee-shirt and Texan boots.
In case the name Patti Smith doesn't ring a bell,
do you remember this hit in the late 70's Because the night ?
Well that's her....



She sang with her guitar only. She made us laugh when she introduced a guitarist she just met before the concert and without rehearsing, they managed to play together beautifully. She paid homage to Ingrid Betancourt who has just been freed from the FARC in Colombia, to her former husband Fred Sonic Smith who died at the young age of 44, and to Jim Morrison. When she started to sing Gloria by the Doors, we all sang with her. I felt quite transported and privileged just to be there last night. You can't really see it on the photos, but the stage was set against a luxurious curtain of green leaves which added a soft romantic touch to the event.

The artist alternated songs and poems of her own or some by Federico Garcia Lorca. She indeed reads poetry beautifully. She asked her audience several times: are you ok ? how are you doing ? at one point, an English man rose up and said : great…but don't you think reading Lorca in English is a bit…er..funny…The artist answered to the man quite graciously saying : you know, poetry can also be understood through your blood....

At the beginning of the concert, Patti Smith did apologize to her audience, mainly Spanish, not to be able to speak Spanish. She expressed her gratitude to be here tonight for the second time. She came to Granada ten years ago and gave a concert in the same premises. I actually thought it would have been great if someone would have been reading Garcia Lorca’s poems in the original text, at the same time. Still, I kept thinking, imagine Spanish actors like Antonio Banderas or Javier Bardem reciting a Spanish translation of Keats or quoting Shakespeare in Spanish on an English stage...Mmmm...not too sure the audience would appreciate. But the spirit was good and the audience was pleased and cheerful.

When it was time to say goodbye, the artist dedicated her last song to her late husband and said with a smile let's make another experiment..tonight is a night of experiments..and oh..i feel nervous..

She sang Because the night without her guitar, a capella, relying on her audience to sing after her and we did

Love is a banquet on which we feed….

Because the night belongs to lovers…..because the night belongs to us…

Because the night belongs to lovers….because the night belongs to us

****

We must convert our own devils into something
and this is art, this is music
this is rock'n'roll

Patti Smith



Photos by your devoted blogging hostess
(sorry for the blurry ones!)

Comments

Unknown said…
Que vida mas luinda que tenes!!!!!
rochambeau said…
Thank for taking me to Patti's outdoor concert. Looks like you had a perfect evening Lala. I heard her interviewed on NPR recently. Was quite interesting. Have a lovely day today with your Cherie!
xo
Constance
charmaine said…
Hello LaLa! what a beautiful evening you seem to have had.i love intimate outdoor concerts. it seemed to be so relaxing and romantic. you were surrounded by some of many things i love, guitar music,poetry and culture.i remember this big hit she co-wrote with bruce springsteen(Because The Night).i still love that song today.i want to say thank you for alerting me about my html problem.i hope i fixed the problem. if you still see it, will you please let me know.have a good weekend!

charmaine
paris parfait said…
Such timing! I've just quoted Lorca and written about Ingrid Betancourt within the last two days. Sounds like a very special concert - how lucky you and your man could be there. xo
Vanessa said…
First of all, I've sincerely and truly missed you, Lala!

And 'Because The Night' is an awesome song. That must have been a memorable concert. I am terribly annoyed that I missed the Buena Vista Social Club when they performed in my city. I was vacuuming my apartment instead! The colossal loss!
Ana. said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tess Kincaid said…
What a special evening, Lala! Thanks for sharing all the fun details.
Anonymous said…
Looks like everyone had a very nice evening. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Paz
somepinkflowers said…
how wonderful!

that you were there.
that it was she.
that there were only 100.
that the event was so well received.


that you shared it here!

:-)

how wonderful!
{{a guitar she just met;
i love that part, too}}
Lavinia said…
Outdoor concerts are the best, aren't they? I vaguely remember Patti Smith, wasn't she involved with the Rolling Stones somehow?

Once again Lala you found the perfect place to be on a summer evening...
Relyn Lawson said…
You do live one enchanted life.

And, if I had to choose, I would much rather my own chéri prefer Patti to Claudia. ;^)

I love your idea of having the Lorca in Spanish and English at once. How lovely that would have been.
David Womack said…
Nice post. Nice blog. However *Gloria* is not a song by The Doors. Van Morrison and Them sang the original.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ceecee said…
I just saw this link below your current post. I love Patti Smith and have seen her many times in concert. I would have been right there with you.

Catherine

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