Patti Smith's power play short-circuits at the Allen

By Jane Scott

The 100-pound hurricane was back.

Patti Smith, the poet-singer-performer who blitzed the Agora in January, brought her power play to an almost sold-out show at the Allen Theater Sunday night.

Her transition to a bigger hall

was a gain and a bit of a loss.

Her show was better-produced, smoother, with the stumbling, ragged edges toned down. Patti was more feminine, more graceful, more at ease.

And there was better material. Not only were the album songs revised and revitalized. There were four new ones, not recorded yet.

There was more poetry, almost ad-libbed. Her four-piece band was superb.

The audience reacted to every song and stood up for an ovation that brought Patti back for an encore, "My Generation.”

In spite of an explosive start, there wasn't the energy give-andtake as at the Agora. Patti evi-

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dently didn't feel as close to the audience and didn't talk as much. At the end, "My Generation" seemed a little forced.

The stage was dark at the start. You could just make out a pair of slim trim legs in black legwarmers, dancing and prancing in front of the mike. Patti also wore a long blouse and a black shirt, instead of her former leather jacket-jeans outfit.

She got a rousing reaction to her "Redondo Beach," a song about a suicide at a lesbian beach, and to the dynamic song, "Free Money."

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But the highlights were her Arista single "Gloria," and "Land," both from her "Horses" album.

One of her new songs. "Ain't It Strange?" had the compelling lyrics and pulsating rhythm that spell hit.

This Belkins-WMMS concert was almost three different shows. Kicking off was Les Dudek, a former guitarist with the Allman Brothers band. Dudek is a good musician, with a Chet Atkins-blues touch, but not quite as good a singer..

In Review

Dudek and his four-man band were a little repititious, but did well for only having been together two months.

Nils Lofgren, the second act, caught fire during the last three songs, winding up with his earlier hit. "Back It UP."

Lofgren, who once played with Neil Young's band, is such તે professional that he was able to switch guitars in the middle of a song with hardly a hitch. Fans clamored for an encore, but the five-man group didn't come back.