Patti Smith

A bunch of us drove all the way up from Gettysburg to the Capitol Theater in Passaic (NJ) to see Patti Smith. Back in those days we never paid for tickets. Somehow we always got in. I made it all the way up front. There I stood, leaning up against the stage, barely tolerating the warm up band. But I was psyched.

Then somebody passed around a joint. I took a hit and promptly passed out. I came to just as everybody was taking a bow. I had been propped up against the wall in the back of the theater. Later, I found that Springsteen had also been there and did a couple of riffs with Patti.

It’s always stuck in my craw that I missed what probably was a great concert.