Patti Smith Welcomes Michael Stipe for Sit-in at ‘Horses’ 50th Anniversary Show

Patti Smith, photo by Ilya Savenok for Getty Images, Courtesy of Tibet House US

Over the weekend, Patti Smith brought her tour celebrating 50 years of Horses back to New York for two performances at the Beacon Theatre.  Smith earned a warm reception onstage at the historic Manhattan concert hall on Nov. 21 and 22, and the legendary singer-songwriter and certified New York countercultural icon returned the love to her hometown crowd on Saturday night by hosting a surprise guest-spot from her longtime friend and collaborator Michael Stipe.

Smith’s shows on Friday and Saturday followed the same hit-packed setlist, beginning with a performance of the full tracklist from her legendary 1965 debut album. After the chilling “Elegie,” Smith punctuated the retrospective first movement with the anthemic medley of “Land: Horses / Land of a Thousand Dances / Gloria,” then broadened her focus to fan favorites from throughout her five-decade musical career and covers of the songs that inspired her.

Smith honored her friends in Television through treatments of “See No Evil,” “Friction” and “Marquee Moon,” all drawn from the punk outfit’s iconic 1977 debut, before looking back to 1967 with a spin on The Byrds’ “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.” To close out the main portion of her performance, the storied artist wove through a dynamic selection of her signature originals, from the propulsive “Dancing Barefoot,” down through “Pissing in the River” to the soft, contemplative “Peaeable Kingdom” and finally up to her explosive version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Because the Night.”

On Saturday night, Smith closed out the engagement on a high note by welcoming R.E.M. frontman Stipe to the stage to mirror her vocals in an encore of “Ghost Dance,” “People Have the Power” and finally The Who’s “My Generation.” These stirring duets from two legends, whose live chemistry was affirmed again during the Tibet House Benefit and People Have The Power: Celebrating The Music Of Patti Smith earlier this year, were bolstered by Smith’s daughter, Jesse Paris Smith, and guitarist Charlie Sexton.

Smith’s Horses anniversary tour will conclude with two final performances in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia on Nov. 28 and 29. Find tickets and more information at pattismith.net.