Patti Smith at The Royal Festival Hall

Back to The Royal Festival Hall for the second time this week for a date with Patti Smith. I didn't really know what to expect since she was billed as playing with The Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra rather her own band. Tickets sold so quickly that the best I could get was half-way back in the balcony.

The lights went down as Patti walked on stage, adjusted the mic, picked up a book and started reading 'Piss Factory'. Now there's a thrill. And that set the tone for the rest of the evening, more a recital of her poems with sonic backing than a concert, with a few songs thrown in for good measure. I like listening to her, her voice is mesmerising and she has undoubted skill with words, conjuring up images and emotions before discarding them and moving on. She was accompanied variously by her daughter on piano, by the guitarist from Portishead, by a Tuareg pipes and drum band from North Africa, by Flea and by the Mt Zion Orchestra.

I was delighted that one of the few songs she played was 'My Blakean Year' which instantly sent me back a few years to when Patti curated the Meltdown festival and held two Blake inspired nights based on his 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'. I went to the 'Experience' night which was made up of Brecht and Weill songs sung by a variety of people from different traditions. One of the artists that night was a band called The Dresden Dolls that performed one song and then, later, a certain Amanda Palmer sang one song. The Dolls performed a short set after the show in the bar area and after that I bought their CD and Ms Palmer signed it for me with a flourish and twinkle in her eye and I was entranced forever. So, thank you Patti, for introducing me to the Dolls.

The encore was made up of two songs, 'Pissing In The River' and 'Ghost Dance', both of which sounded great with the added strings from the Mt Zion Orchestra. It was a great ending to the show and Patti even got down from the stage to roam around the crowd in the stalls, which was nice. A few more songs would've been welcomed but I enjoyed the evening anyway - Patti always gives good show and it's a pleasure to be in her presence.