On 20 March 2010 I went to a book signing at Foyle's bookstore at The Southbank in Waterloo: Patti Smith was in London autographing copies of her memoirs Just Kids about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and their early years together as struggling artists in NYC. I would say she's one of my punk heroes -- but Patti Smith is one of everyone's punk heroes!
Before the signing she sang a few songs accompanying herself on guitar and read a bit from the book. I couldn't actually see her performance as the queue was so long and she was just standing at the front of the store, not elevated on a stage but she was in lacerating voice. It felt incredible to meet Patti Smith even if only for a few fleeting moments -- she's so charismatic and such a legend. As you can see she graciously let me take her photo too.
