Patti Smith To Perform Horses At Bluesfest

“It has taken over three years to get the very in demand Patti Smith confirmed,” admits Peter Noble, director of Bluesfest Byron Bay. But Smith and her band – Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty, Tony Shanahan and Jack Petruzzelli – make their Bluesfest debut with something to give the 100,000 who attend the event each year something to whoop about – the performance of the Horses album in its entirety.

Photo: Peter Klaunzer / Keystone via AP

Gurtenfestival, Bern, Switzerland

Smith’s last visit eight years ago was a sellout. The 28th edition of the festival (April 13-17 at its 120-hectare site) is also bringing back Zac Brown Band, which brought the place down with its debut last year.

While most of its acts go on to play clubs around the country, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples and Beth Hart will only play the festival with multi-sets. Among the 24 unveiled in the first artist announcement were Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones.