Patti Smith, who just celebrated her 68th birthday on December 30, played the Moore Theatre last night. Dressed in baggy jeans tucked into boots and a black vest and jacket over a T-shirt, Smith radiated the same edgy cool as always; her energy oscillated from sweet stories about love and passion to off-the-rails rage-outs verging on feral. And her voice somehow hasn't aged at all. No wavering, no faltering—in fact, during some of the more mellow songs, it seemed like she had to restrain herself, all the while moving her limbs with defiant grace. And yes, Lenny Kaye, her bandmate of over 30 years (he's also 68) was also there, the beautiful beanpole with impeccable solos and vocals.

The crowd was exuberant, ranging in age from early-20-somethings to folks around Smith's age; the latter half seemed to think perhaps this was a private show just for them, laughing like crazy at every small joke and anecdote and trying to interact with her stories with yelling ("Ha ha! So then what did you do???"). Yes, Smith and co. definitely covered "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (which every touring act is required to play before a larger venue will approve your contract) but their version was the best I've seen (even though it featured a banjo). Other covers from the set included "My Little Red Book" by Love and "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon (played after Smith announced she had become a grandmother since her last visit to Seattle).

I intended to keep this review fairly straightforward and tell you mostly about how impressive, inspiring, and empowering it was to see a woman in her late 60s holding her own so ferociously—spitting on the stage, straight-up ripping every string out of a guitar, snarling things like "We are the future! We need stand up! Power to the FUCKING people!!" with her fist raised… But when I got to mentioning the last song she played, my "review" took a turn that I want to explore.

The ever-complicated "Rock n' Roll Nigger" was the final encore song she played, as wildly an unapologetically as ever. While I understand that this song was written for and about radical outcasts—a group which Smith identified/identifies with—in a time where, to quote a very smart friend "there wasn't much analysis on white people using black peoples' oppression to paint a picture of their own oppression," it seems like a heavy and difficult song to choose, especially on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. What may have been a provocative choice in 1978, maybe meant to shock people into discourse, feels uneasy in 2015, to say the least—especially with a packed audience excitedly singing along.

But then, self-censorship doesn't seem like Smith's style. It's never been easy being a woman in music—an outspoken, hard rock 'n' roll woman at that—so I imagine there is a complicated timeline (dating back to before we really investigated the idea of "reclaiming" a word that was never used against you in the first place; dating back to a time before women had even a fraction of the equality we have now, which is saying a lot because the playing field is still ridiculously far from even) attached to Smith's attachment to the song.

I'm not an expert on this, I just felt a discussion was necessary. I've been looking around for an essay or interview with Smith that might help me frame this conversation better, but there doesn't seem to be anything very recent. What do you think? (Perhaps without the trolling and spewing of vitriol?)