In the pantheon of rock originals, Patti Smith
is one of the original originals. Since exploding onto the scene
with 1975’s breathtaking Horses, Smith’s spent the past three
decades honing her visionary marriage of performance-art poetry and
ass-kicking rock ‘n’ roll. Lunkhead lore posits the 21st-century Smith
as an admirable shadow of her earlier self, but fuck that: She’s
Patti Smith, and tonight, she’s at the Showbox. (Showbox, 1426
First Ave, ticketmaster.com. 8
pm, $25, 21+.)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...