The Calderone Concert Hall, which was located on Franklin Avenue, Hempstead, was an unusual venue for us to travel to from Queens but we made the trek for the Patti Smith Group in August, 1979. The Calderone Concert Hall was a theatre in Nassau County that was later converted to a church and, at the time, the neighborhood had a reputation as being rather tough with streetwalkers and drug dealers. Somewhere on the way to the show, we passed by a florist and, for some unknown reason, I spontaneously bought a white carnation with a long stem just in case we were close enough to hand it off to Patti Smith. Patti Smith rocked; she was like a female version of Keith Richards and Lou Reed combined and not much thought went into how she might react to such a gesture but off to Hempstead we went. We were sitting facing left side of orchestra and I was either on the aisle or pretty close. Patti Smith came walking down the aisle from behind us. As she passed, while singing, I held out the carnation and she dramatically forcibly grabbed it mid stride as she walked onto the stage using it as a prop for the rest of the song. As I recall, there was at least one video screen next to the stage and I remember thinking it was pretty cool that she was clutching the carnation next to her microphone as she sang. The next night we headed into Central Park to catch the band again but whether we actually went in or hung out on the boulders is anyone’s guess at this point.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees were announced yesterday. How is it that Tina Turner is not already in it? And I liked Devo enough but, c’mon, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Dancing Barefoot

Rock on!

GQ