KAYAN PATEL attends Fabric at St. Paul’s Cathedral, headlined by the legendary Patti Smith.
After last year’s Fabric one-off special at St. Paul’s Cathedral featuring RY X, the London Contemporary Orchestra, and Hinako Omori, a repeat fixture at the venue was unexpected. Let alone one pushing beyond the domain of electronic music, starring the legendary Patti Smith. The audience was demographically sprawling: those who grew up with her words in a time when she was revolutionising rock music with Horses (1975) could be seen alongside twenty-somethings trying a bit too hard to be cool. In any case, everyone mingled to the sound of pulsing dub — more akin to the sound system it played on than to its English Baroque surrounding. How often has dub been played in the cathedral? You can hardly blame Fabric for seizing the chance to do so.
The first act of the night, FAUZIA, treaded between the nightclub and the concert hall, joined by contemporaries Tirzah, Jockstrap and Astrid Sonne. Ex-member of DJ supergroup, 6 Figure Gang, writer on Kelela’s Raven (2023), and Guildhall School graduate, FAUZIA’s experiences are manifold, making her a good pick for the occasion. Murky shoegaze seeped into the cathedral’s nave, at times near-deafening, while more cinematic compositions, reminiscent of SAULT’s orchestral endeavours, were given space to breathe, peppered with layered Tirzah-esque vocals and the occasional bass line. A final, whispered piano solo set an entrancing atmosphere for the evening. She grew into the performance, despite a nervy start of her own admission. This candid breaking of the fourth wall was common on the night, making the gig feel intimate against St. Paul’s grandiosity.
Before the altar, Patti Smith emerged from a bath of red light and into her poem “Cry Humanity”, a moving tribute to victims of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. St. Paul’s seems always adapted to demand, here serving as a place of remembrance in many ways reminiscent of its traditional use as a space for worship. The service was one filled with hope and a gratitude for life, as echoed by Smith several times during the evening with tributes to Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestine activist who was brutally murdered by the IDF in 2003, as well as the passing of the father of her children.
The evening had a staccato yet strangely smooth feel to it. The honesty of the pauses, debates between the quartet about the set list, sputtering of the odd line of spoken word, and frequent anecdotes from Smith contributed to this informality. Smith’s performance of her 1978 track “Ghost Dance” was raspy and joyful, and her first of two Bob Dylan covers, “Man in the Long Black Coat” (1989), was superb. The coarseness and power of her voice made it seem like it was written for her. “Bob Dylan” she stated simply after each of the covers. She paused before the second, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” (1962), and joked “I did a terrible thing, I’ve forgotten my reading glasses” as the audience chuckled with her. She explained that at Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize acceptance, she had forgotten the words and promised herself it wouldn’t happen again. Such a confident and casual disclosure only she could pull off.
At seventy-seven, she is still a fantastic performer. From the powerful shrieks in a rendition of her 1976 song “Pissing in a River” to her warm and soulful cover of Charlotte Day Wilson’s “Work” (2017), the dynamism of her vocals proved outstanding. Tony Shanahan was remarkable as he played on keys, bass, and occasionally dueted with Smith too. His porcelain voice wonderfully juxtaposed Smith’s raggedness.
The crowd flooded into the dome for the final song, “People Have the Power” (1988). Once again, the space was flooded in red, and, for a moment, the Cathedral was transformed into a gospel church. The crowd surged into a jubilant chorus while Patti triumphantly urged: “Use your power”.
Featured image courtesy of Minnie Leaver.
