Last Friday, we went to Leamington Spa in the Chiltern Hills, to see Patti Smith. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The last time I saw Patti Smith was in the 80s and she gave a terrible concert. She came back on stage after an intermission and was too blasted to perform. The audience booed and hissed and left. My friends and I (adamant Patti Smith fans all) called her Ratty Smith and held on to our disappointment for years. But time passes and before I knew it, I was seeing Patti Smith again, in England!
Here’s a brief description of Leamington Spa from Wikipedia:
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa and Leamington (pronounced /ˈlɛmɪŋtən/) or “Leam” to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe around 1797. During the 19th century, the town experienced one of the most rapid expansions in England.
Formerly known as Leamington Priors, Leamington began to develop as a town at the start of the 19th century. It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lamintone. For 400 years, the settlement was under the control of Kenilworth Priory, from which the older suffix derived. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Leman-tūn or Lemen-tūn = “farm on the River Leam“. The healing properties of the spa waters had been known in Roman times and their rediscovery in 1784 by William Abbotts and Benjamin Satchwell, led to their commercialisation.
Here’s what I have to say about Leamington Spa: It is a sweet little town of about 45,000 people. There are many choices of restaurants – we ate at an Indian restaurant. We stayed at The Adams, a very nice little hotel with an excellent full English breakfast. Leamington Spa is a fun place to walk around. It has a nice park, a pretty river, lots of shops, and quiet streets. Its history as a spa town gives it a little sparkle. It reminds me of Saratoga Springs, with its elegant spa buildings and evidence of a time when moneyed people spent their time and riches taking in the waters. And it has an excellent venue for concerts, The Assembly.
This sculpture marks the site of the first spa waters. I liked the sculpture and the chairs around it.
The River Leam
The nice park. Even the trash cans were nice.
This was a monument to the man who gave the land for the park to the town.
Finally – spring has come and there were flowers in the park.
There were also flowers in the big greenhouse in the park.
This was a sort of waterfall sculpture made of stones. I liked the way it looked.
Back to the concert…
The Assembly is a great place to see a concert. We were so close to the stage and the acoustics were perfect.
Patti Smith is in her sixties now. She read passages from her new book, Just Kids. It’s about her life and her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe. Even though she is older me, we share some common experiences. She has enjoyed afternoons in Washington Square Park in New York City just as I have enjoyed them. And she lost one of her best friends to AIDS. But it is her music that brought me to Leamington Spa. She knows how to put on a show. One of the best songs of the evening was “Mother Rose”. Unfortunately, listening to the recorded version pales in comparison to the live version we heard. The song is a beautiful and sentimental ode to motherhood. Patti is often referred to as “punk” but I have never thought of her as a punk rocker. She is a rock and roll poet. Her voice is better than ever today. So rich. Patti Smith is still a rock star!
Unfortunately, all good concerts and weekends must come to an end.
