10 December 2020
Newsdesk
Patti Smith will play her first band gig since COVID shut down live music to celebrate her birthday.
The punk icon celebrates her birthday with a concert every year and wasn't about to let the pandemic ruin her plans for 2020.
"I just thought it would be nice to uphold that tradition in a certain way because it’s always a joyful moment," Smith told Rolling Stone.
Smith and her band will play live in the studio as filmmaker Steven Sebring, who made 2008 documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life, films the get together for a streaming audience.
"Doing it with the band, we have half a century of camaraderie," Smith added.
"We're all people who care about each other. I'm not going into a stream thinking about the absence of the people; I would go into a stream thinking that we’re all with each other," she went on.
Smith declared: "It’s not like I’m like a rock star and they’re like fans," musing: "We’re all people looking to have a transcendent experience to feel good, hopeful and energized."
She conceded: "I know that’s somewhat of a challenge, but we’ll certainly do it the best we can."
