I did not go into a 2013 Patti Smith concert expecting to come out raving. I've seen too many 21st-century Dylan shows to expect my legends to represent in full in the present moment. I mostly just want to be in the same room with someone whose art I love, even if the live iteration of this art is a limited pleasure. (Sometimes it seems like Dylan has a "the artist will use no consonants" clause in his tour rider.)

But last night Patti Smith and her band put on one of the best rock shows I've ever seen.

The setlist was a fan's dream, including nearly every totemic Patti Smith song you could hope for, each brought to new life in a way that acknowledged the historical record (there were no full reinterpretations) but ventured way beyond the recordings. Great care was taken throughout the show with instrumentation and volume, and the sound at the Neptune was amazing. But what took things over the top was the theatrical attention to detail, with song after song inhabiting its own sonic world, many of them building to climaxes that felt truly cathartic. (That's the thing about playing stretches of a show at mid-volume—it allows you to truly make a point when you crank shit up.)

And here's something I never thought I'd say: Patti Smith is a great singer. I had a similar realization after listening to Morrissey's 21st-century live album, and noting that this man who introduced himself with his barely-a-voice singing voice had grown, over decades of recording and touring, into a forceful vocalist, capable of a world of nuance inaccessible to his younger self. Same with Patti, and her current vocal power is what made last night's versions of "Dancing Barefoot," "Pissing in a River," "Redondo Beach," "We Three," "Free Money," and "Beneath the Southern Cross" so engrossing. (Beyond Patti songs, the show also featured Lenny Kaye leading the band through a couple Nuggets nuggets and a Heartbreakers song.)

And in case you were wondering, Patti Smith is still a hilarious, mouthy crank, as evidenced in her between-song banter. She told a story about giving Ralph Nader a birthday present, and how he immediately recycled every bit of the gift wrap. She railed against a culture obsessed with up-to-the-minute gadgetry, yelling at the audience, "We don't need that shit!" And she discussed her deep love for AMC's The Killing. "It's coming back for a third season!"

And then there was the final song, which seemed specifically designed to prove Patti's still capable of riling us up in ways we may not even like: Easter's ever-problematic "Rock N' Roll Nigger." She prefaced the song with a spoken-word piece about the revolutionary spirit of Jimi Hendrix, but did nothing to diminish the song's potential for offense. For the full-band chant of "Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger," the stage lights were abruptly brought up to full. No hiding, no apologies, and apparently no explanation necessary.

All the best poets are partly full of shit. Thanks for the amazing night, Patti Smith.