They Shall Remain Nameless - Patti Smith and Silver Mount Zion

Patti Smith writes marching songs for an anti war art-dreaming army. A Silver Mount Zion, friendly spiral I think from Godspeed you Black Emperor, are almost all pacing strings. Together, tonight they resounded off each other and we waved and shook in reverence. We biked to her and walked in our quiet legions. We didn’t wake the neighborhood. She read and sang and the band made a glorious new noise out of songs the crowd may have always known. Thunderous, moaning marching songs, with violins that know how to play the notes and the pain in between them. And it wasn’t anything like CBGB - it was just a collaboration created that day, brought together by the will of Sandy Perlman, played out in a room that Dan Seligman and POP Montreal have made a great concert venue; the gorgeous looming community center stage here in the Mile end of Montreal known as the Ukrainian Federation.

Patti Smith told stories about Robert Mapplethorpe tonight, and dedicated a song to Johnny Appleseed, Ralph Nader and HP Lovecraft, and wanted us to take the time to learn the story of John Walker Lindh. We paid only five dollars and saaanng with her, this straight faced funny gorgeous lady who is, aside from all else, a fashion icon for me with her no makeup, tshirt, weird pants, unruled hair.

She is epic and her voice is beautiful. The sounds beat back the walls. The poetry she wrote and read to us made me go back and read her lyrics, and she is uncanny at blending and raising her vocals chords and heartsoul like an instrument. She plays it arched and truth telling in the edge. And it was funny when she decided to not play the guitar, and wise too, A Silver Mount Zion took more readily to her voice and clarinet then an acoustic guitar. Together they were piercing and haunting and rattling and buzzing and aaaa no more adjectives awesome ahhhhh.. Yes. POp Has begun.

I’ll be heading down to see Patti Smith again tomorrow after noon when she’s appearing on a panel as part of POP and Policy. Also Watch for pictures from this show coming from Marilis soon!