As Patti Smith walked back onto the stage for her encore on Saturday, Nov. 15, she smiled and waved to the cheering crowds on all four sides of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

“I don’t usually have the experience of playing in the round,” she told them. “I know so many people are really high up there, and they’re behind us.

“But I just want you to know that half the time I’m singing with my eyes closed anyway,” Smith said, smiling as the audience laughed. “So you’re all in my consciousness, always.”

That word – consciousness – means a lot to Smith , and always has. Her eyes might be closed, but still she sees the world around her in all its passion and poetry, the beauty in all lives, the power in its people.

The current tour is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Horses,” Sm

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