Live Review: Patti Smith at The Moore Theatre 1/5

"I'M FUCKING OLD!" shouted Patti Smith, the legendary Godmother of Punk, to the crowd at The Moore Theatre, her tiny fists raised to the ceiling. "And I hope I get even older!"

In fact, when Smith shared her age to the audience (69 years old, as a matter of fact), it was hard to believe. Sure, her trademark tangle of hair has gone silvery-grey, but her androgynous fashion sense hasn't changed a bit, right down to her combat boots and skinny black jeans. On stage, she carries herself with a youthful energy, bouncing along vigorously to each song. She and her band are currently on tour in celebration of her 1975 debut album Horses, which they played in its entirety last week, Monday and Tuesday night, here in Seattle.

You would think that after 40 years of singing "Gloria," she'd start dialing it in, but nope. Instead, she was like a small-town girl on stage at her neighborhood bar on karaoke night: she grasped the mic stand passionately, her eyes closed in rapture as she belted out each verse. As she got to the chorus, she transformed into a rock n' roll cheerleader, rousing the audience to shout along as the house lights went up: "G-L-O-R-IIIIIII-A."

She hardly stopped dancing the whole evening, sometimes sidling up to her longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye, who would dance along, and sometimes grabbing the lapel of her jacket and throwing it open in a move I like to call the "Wanna Buy a Watch." The audience alternated between sitting and standing, and every time I'd start to sit, I'd think, "She's 69 and she's still going..." and I'd guiltily stand back up again. Whatever this woman is on, I want some. Before beginning "Break It Up," she encouraged the audience to sing along during the chorus. "You don't have to sing along if you don't want to," she shrugged. "But, if you don't, it will be depressing," she added with a teasing grin.

Only a few moments betrayed her age: when stopping to read her poetry between songs, a roadie ran out to hand her her reading glasses. (This is a job I want: "Eyeglass Roadie.")

The other moment came when Smith shared with the audience that today was the birthday of Michael Stipe, former frontman of R.E.M. and her longtime friend. Giggling, she attempted to call him from her iPhone, and, like your Grandma at Christmas, couldn't figure out how to put it on speaker. She led the packed house at The Moore in singing "Happy Birthday" to him, and you could faintly hear his faraway voice, perhaps from Athens, Georgia, sending Seattle his love. Hanging up the phone, she then went into a cover of R.E.M's 1992 hit "Everybody Hurts," flubbing the lyrics a few times, so keyboardist Tony Shanahan would jump in to help her out.

Aside from the entirety of Horses, and the addition of her hits "Because the Night" and "People Have the Power," the set list included a handful more covers. Patti stepped into the rafters as Kaye took the spotlight for a salute to the Velvet Underground's 50th anniversary. He and the boys in the band ripped through a 3-song medley, trading off vocals on "Rock & Roll," "I'm Waiting for the Man," and "White Light White Heat."

Closing out the show, they covered The Who's "My Generation," which had audience members from all generations up on their feet. Holding up a guitar, Smith declared, "Behold the weapon of my generation," before setting off a stream of feedback. And then, one by one, she began pulling the strings from the neck, 'til there was nothing left but a smiling Smith, holding the guitar up high. Patti, we hope you continue to grow old, too, and we'll be honored to grow old beside you.