SAN FRANCISCO--Somebody should put Patti Smith [ tickets ] on a coin or a stamp. The punk-rock pioneer is a national treasure.

Smith's show on Tuesday night (8/7) at the Fillmore in San Francisco was packed with wit and humor, as well as passion and fire. For more than two hours, she killed the audience with tender ballads, well-chosen cover songs, frantic rockers and cool pop tunes. She read a poem by William Blake, impersonated Elvis Presley and dedicated a song to Jerry Garcia. She was a spoken-word priestess, an exotic belly dancer and a social advocate.

Smith was greeted with a reception befitting someone of her status. Many in the crowd had seen her at the same venue last year, and knew what to expect. Others had heard stories about her and had come to see if she could match her legend. Smith met and surpassed the expectations of both sides of the crowd.

At 54, this Chicago native still puts on one of the most exciting shows in rock and roll. Everything she does is performance art. She plays the guitar like she hates it, trying to break the strings and contort the body. She closes her eyes much of the time when she’s singing, looking inward for the strength to touch every person in the house. She tackles each show like it’s the start of a revolution. And, most importantly, she makes you believe.

On "So You Want to Be (A Rock 'N' Roll Star)," the classic Byrds song that Smith recorded on 1979’s "Wave," the vocalist sang through a sneer and delivered each line like a threat. She played the guitar in fits of terrorism and led her terrific band through an exercise in deconstruction. By the end of the song, the band had unwound the structure so far that it was near impossible to place the original tune.

Longtime collaborator-guitarist Lenny Kaye mostly stayed out of Smith’s way, but did pull off a few nice leads. He shined on the spacey interlude in "Boy Cried Wolf" and on the snake-in-the-grass opening of "Lo and Beholden."

Perhaps the evening’s best moment came when Smith performed "Grateful." Certainly, it was the concert’s most appropriate moment. Smith wrote the song for Jerry Garcia, a musician who meant so much to the Fillmore and to San Francisco. She explained that it was officially Jerry Garcia week.

"Jerry week lasts from Aug. 1, his birthday, to Aug. 9, when he passed on to other realms," Smith said. "I’m sure the other realms are saying, ‘Whoa, Jerry’s here!'" Despite the humorous lead-in, the song was definitely one of the most poignant and heartfelt of the concert. As tough as Smith can be, she can be equally sweet and soft.

Smith is a pro at working the crowd. She prodded and poked, she coaxed and cuddled. By the end of the show, she was gliding down a mountain of momentum and riding the roar of the crowd. She cranked the intensity level up a notch as she took the crowd through a run of favorites such as "Gloria" and "Because the Night."

Smiling broadly, she closed the show with the anthem "People Have the Power." As she finished what is perhaps her most powerful song, she told the crowd, "Don’t forget it!"