TORONTO -- If Richard Ashcroft never writes another song, he can take comfort in the knowledge that, when the mood strikes him, he'll always be able to pick up an acoustic guitar and set a room alight with the ones he already has.

 That much was clear at the Opera House Tuesday night, where the British singer-songwriter casually wove a string of gems by his former band, The Verve, into his solo set. It was the first of two sold-out nights at the club.

 The tunes, notably The Verve's 1997 hits Bittersweet Symphony, Lucky Man and The Drugs Don't Work, are already bona fide classics: Unique, simple, timeless.

 But most impressive was the way Ashcroft just pulled these simple versions out, trump card-like, and whomped the sold-out crowd of 800 over the head, as if to say, 'Oh yeah, this one's mine, too.'

 The effect, by the encore version of Symphony, was one of pregnant silence, as the audience seemed to hang on every strum of the singer's guitar. A reminder, maybe, of how great it was in the first place -- before it was recorded, before it became a hit, before it was heard on every radio and jukebox and airplane the world over.

 And it was a reminder that Ashcroft, whose voice continues to improve, just might be the finest rock singer born in the '70s.

 It had to feel good for him.

 Since the dissolution of The Verve in 1998 and the launch of his solo career last year, it's been one professional setback after another. His debut album, Alone With Everybody, was widely lambasted by critics for its pompous over-production and distinct lapse in song quality. The glossy studio efforts failed to pay off when the album stiffed in sales.

 Ashcroft made his first-ever solo appearance in Toronto last spring with an industry gig at Ted's Wrecking Yard, but a proper show in November was cancelled. When he later fell off a stage in Europe and broke some ribs, it looked as if this week's shows might have been blown out, too.

 With so much scrutiny over the future of Ashcroft's solo career, it'd be easy now to overlook the value of what he's already done.

 Of course, it's his job as a performer to fix that, and fix it he did.

 Looking star-like in a duster-length sheepskin coat and rosy shades, Ashcroft whittled current songs Brave New World, A Song For Lovers and On A Beach -- featuring a sly punchline, "I'll eat the Beatles for lunch" -- into pleasing acoustic ditties. Ashcroft remains a heavy-handed guitarist, favouring a similarly paced strum on each tune, but his magnificent vocals actually elevated the weaker material to Verve-ish heights and beyond.

 Likewise, with just a touch of band support from his wife, former Spiritualized keyboardist Kate Radley, a percussionist and saxophonist/flutist, the work was transformed, intentionally or not, to echo folk experimentalists such as Robert Wyatt or Tim Buckley. That came in especially handy during the lame New York, which was turned around nicely into a psychedelic finale.

 Looks like it's back on.

Set List

Brave New World
 Lucky Man (Verve)
 Sonnet (Verve)
 Space And Time (Verve)
 On A Beach
 I Get My Beat
 You On My Mind In My Sleep
 The Drugs Don't Work (Verve)
 See You In The Next One (Verve)
 Country Thing, City Thing, Blues Thing
 New York
 History (Verve)
 Song For Lovers
 Bittersweet Symphony (Verve)

JAM! Rating: 4.5 out of 5