SAN JOSE, Calif. — The power of rock ‘n’ roll was on full display.

It made us want to sing and it made us want to scream. It made want to call old friends as well as make new ones. It made us believe, hope and dream. And it made us want to start our own rock ‘n’ roll bands, even though they definitely wouldn’t be as great as the one we were watching on the stage.

Anyone who thinks that’s all mere hyperbole clearly wasn’t at the Masonic in San Francisco on Thursday night (Nov. 13) as Patti Smith and her band celebrated the 50th anniversary of “Horses.”

What a magnificent night of live music, centered on the 1975 debut that is regularly — and rightfully — considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time.

The record’s seamless, yet shattering mix of rock and poetry helped shape a generation of listeners — inspiring countless impressionable young talents, from Michael Stipe of R.E.M. to Courtney Love of Hole — as it bridged the gap between the Velvet Underground and punk rock.

And there it was, being constructed again in all of its CBGB glory, right in front of us in San Francisco. And the result was an absolute delight.

The music world’s undying love for this particular album was underscored by the scarcity of tickets — with both the Masonic gig and Smith’s show on Wednesday at the Fox Theater in Oakland being long sold out — as well as the prices on the resell market, which in some cases reached thousands of dollars.

And, just to be clear, that’s not normal price activity for a Patti Smith show.

Adding to the demand was the fact that tour marks the first time in 20 years that Smith has specifically celebrated “Horses” in concert. And this “Horses” ride through the Bay Area was even better than the last one I saw — which came back in November 2005 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco — in large part because it stayed much truer to the original album.

Taking the stage just after 8:15 p.m., the 78-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer got right down to business and led her band — featuring original “Horses” musicians Lenny Kaye on guitar and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums as well as keyboardist/bassist Tony Shanahan and son Jackson Smith on guitar — through a blistering reworking/reimagining of Them’s famed “Gloria.”

From that “Horses” track one offering — which blends Smith’s own “In Excelsis Deo” with the Van Morrison-penned “Gloria” — Smith and company proceeded to work through each of the album’s eight diversly appealing tracks (mostly in order).

Smith barely interacted with the crowd during the first half of ‘Horses,” as the group bounced from “Gloria” into a groovy “Redondo Beach” and then followed up with a powerhouse “Free Money” and, finally, the wild ride that is “Birdland,” but she’d grow more talkative as we embarked on side two of the album.

“Now it’s time to take the record, turn it over and put it on the turntable,” Smith instructed.

Fans leaned into her words as she talked of the origins behind some of the “Horses” tracks. These back stories were filled with plenty of pure Patti personality, taking fans on a time-machine roller-coaster ride back to the ’70s New York City arts/music scene. For instance, during the introduction to “Break It Up,” Smith spoke of living with Tom Verlaine — of fellow ’70s CBGB-era greats Television — and drinking coffee with chocolate donuts and dreaming of a winged Jim Morrison breaking free from a statue to soar through the sky ….

Actually, never mind. You probably had to be there for that one. The point is that Smith’s wildly colorful stories and curiously charming anecdotes — as always — played a huge part in making the show so enjoyable.

She followed up “Break It Up” with “Elegie,” which I found a bit disappointing because it broke the track listing. Yet, the move was understandable because it allowed the band to bring the “Horses” segment to a close with a more powerful “Land” finale.

Smith then took a short break and left the stage to the rest of her band, which used the time to power through a nice three-song tribute to Verlaine’s Television that consisted of “See No Evil,” “Friction” and “Marquee Moon.” (Speaking of terrific albums, that 1977 Television debut — “Marquee Moon” — ranks in the same stratosphere as “Horses.”)

Smith then returned to the fray for a splendid take on “Dancing Barefoot,” before the band was forced to take a short break due to a technical difficulty.

“Sorry, Tony fried the bass amp,” Smith remarked.

Fortunately, a fix was quickly made and the group got right back to it, delivering a stunning version of “Pissing in the River” and then a take on "Peaceable Kingdom" that included a snippet/foreshadowing of “People Have the Power.”

Smith, who sounded incredible on the mic all night along, brought the 90-minute-plus main set to a close with a powerhouse “Because the Night.” The group then returned for a three-song encore that included “Happy Birthday to You” (sung to her touring agent Frank Riley), “Ghost Dance” and the expected return to “People Have the Power.”

Patti Smith Nov. 13, 2025 setlist

1. “Gloria”

2. “Redondo Beach”

3. “Free Money”

4. “Birdland”

5. “Kimberly”

6. “Break It Up”

7. “Elegie”

8. “Land”/”Gloria”

9. “See No Evil”

10. “Friction”

11. “Marquee Moon”

12. “Dancing Barefoot”

13. “Pissing in a River”

14. “Peaceable Kingdom”/”People Have the Power”

15. “Because the Night”

Encore:

16. “Happy Birthday to You”

17. “Ghost Dance”

18. “People Have the Power”

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