Rock ladies of a certain age don’t care that Patti Smith hasn’t made a good record since Carter was president. We were hormone-addled virgins when Horses came out, and the skinny messianic spaz running everything and getting everything was finally one of us. None of Smith’s heiresses apparent—Exene, Courtney, PJ, et al.—has been so unabject, so unobject as she was on her debut and on a handful of other songs from the ’70s. A loyal cohort, the rock ladies politely ignored People Have the Power, and we forgive her derivative new album, too. (God knows the last few years were rough enough to inspire her Blood on the Tracks, and Gone Again has moments of grace. I just wish it didn’t sound like she was trying to make an actual Dylan album.) She’s still our heroine, though, and we’re happy to help her pay for the kids’ college. At 9 p.m. tonight and 10 p.m. tomorrow at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25. (202) 393-0930. (Virginia Vitzthum)