Over a career that has so far spanned 35 years, Patti Smith - art house poseur, sneering punk and resurrected Rimbaud - has represented women everywhere with her uncompromising songs. In her New York life as a musician, poet and artist she has tried to find her place in society, taking refuge in the images of Rimbaud, Bob Dylan, James Brown and the Rolling Stones.

To take a random quote from her vast collection of lyrics, Smith proclaimed that she wanted to "live in an illuminated time." Her recent performances have tried to recapture the agitational energy of her early days and the power of Horses, her debut album, which shot her to early fame on the burgeoning Seventies New York art scene.