Missed Patti Smith at the Dome? Catch Her at ‘Lorca in NY’

On Friday Patti Smith, a Village Hall of Famer if ever there was one, played the Dome. No, not the Superdome, silly — the VW Dome, a temporary events space that MoMA PS1 just opened in Rockaway Beach. Check out footage of her reciting “People Have the Power” and playing “My Blakean Year” and “Beneath the Southern Cross.”

UntitledDaniel Maurer No place like Dome.

If you missed the commotion by the ocean, you’ll have another chance to catch the legendary songstress when she plays Bowery Ballroom on June 5, in honor of Federico Garcia Lorca’s birthday. Apparently, she’s a big fan of the Spanish poet and playwright: “I have always enjoyed reading him and I’ve learnt a lot about improvisation and on-scene presence, thanks to him,” she once said during a similar tribute show in Granada.

The “words and music” concert featuring Ms. Smith and friends is part of a city-wide “Lorca in NY” festival opening this Friday at the New York Public Library, with an exhibit of “Poet in New York”-era manuscripts and artifacts (full disclosure: the exhibit was co-curated by a scholar known to me as Papa, Christopher Maurer). Other events in the neighborhood include a performance of Lorca’s puppet play, “The Billy-Club Puppets,” at Clemente Soto Velez Center (every Saturday in April) and a flamenco-tinged “extravaganza” of music, theater, and spoken word at Bowery Poetry Club (April 7).

And on June 10, Paul Auster, John Giorno, Wayne Koestenbaum and other literary lions will convene at St. Mark’s Church to recite their favorite passages from “Poet in New York.” For the full lineup of events, check out the Website.