Amoeba Music

Patti Smith’s May 3rd performance at Amoeba Hollywood was kept on the down-low. . . until Jay Leno happened to mention on The Tonight Show that the fierce and perpetually relevant Patti Smith would be performing a live set at the store, triggering an avalanche of phone calls and waves of fans on Thursday evening. The night before, the 60-year-old recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Smith had played the Roxy in support of her new album of covers, Twelve. After the performance, Smith and the band signed copies of the album and custom-made limited-edition posters created specifically for the Amoeba event. The line stretched around the store but the band remained personable, warm, and funny even to the final fans.