I went to see Patti Smith play at the Sydney Opera House last night. It was, and excuse my language, fucking amazing. I'm not prone to gushing about much, but for this I'll make an exception.
Here's why I love her:
1. The first time I kissed the first boy I ever fell in love with, Free Money was playing. We were under a table, in the detritus of a big party at 3am.
I'll buy you a jet plane, baby, Get you on a higher plane to a jet stream And take you through the stratosphere.
2. She dresses so good. Last night she wore an oversized black blazer, white teeshirt, skinny jeans and Vivienne Westwood black pirate boots. She's also Ann Demeulemeester's muse.
"She's my best friend, my soul mate, an artist I admire, and a strong individual. We met because we were meant to - it was written in the stars. Close souls find each other in life," says Demeulemeester.
She's also had huge influence on Lover, my favourite Australian label. One of their recent collections Electric Ladyland was dedicated to "all the female punk poet pioneers".
3. When I was 12, I found my mother's copy of Seventh Heaven. It terrified and fascinated me - especially the poems she wrote about doomed beauties like Edie Sedgewick, Marianne Faithfull. Now, it's one of my most treasured books.
4. She's inspired many a fashion shoot, like this one from the NY Times magazine, as well as the A/W09 collection from New Zealand label Twenty Seven Names.
5. She is master of the iconic image - most of her photos were shot by her friend, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
6. She's worked with some of my favourite musicians - she married Fred Smith of the MC5, her albums were produced by John Cale (of the Velvet Underground) and she sings about French 19th century poets like Baudelaire and Rimbaud. Then, she's covered (in her own inimitable way) songs by Kurt Cobain, the Rolling Stones and (weirdly) Coolio.
7. Oh yeah, her own music is kind of cool too - she's not known as the Godmother of Punk for no reason.
