OTTAWA - When your 73 years old and your name is Stompin' Tom Connors, you can get away with a lot.

What's the odd Newfie joke between friends?

And so what if the lights came on and he took a half-hour break in the middle of his set? He was croaking for a smoke. Or 10. Who knows, maybe he had a little nap.

The crowd, all 2,600 of them, understood. They weren't much younger.

The girls, in their fresh grey perms, weren't out to bingo. The boys, beltbuckles shining, may have still been getting stinko.

But they we were there to clap and stomp and sing along with that proud Canadian songwriter.

With the Scotiabank arena divided in half to present a more intimate setting, Connors, in his trademark black hat, walked on to the stage, decorated with only a Canadian flag, and opened with Bud the Spud, perhaps his most well-known song.

From then on, he never lost that connection with the audience (despite the half-hour break).

His songs referenced every corner of Canada, and you could tell where his fans were from by when they cheered. Even the Newfies.

The old charmer flirted with the ladies. He doesn't sing love songs, he said, but would make an exception and sing one by "that other Tom."

"What's his name?" he asked. "The one who wears the tight pants? Oh yeah, Jones."

Then he sang his own silly version of Green Green Grass of Home. "Down the road I look, and there stand Bessie ..." You get the idea.

It's tough to boil 20 albums into a 2Ohm-half hour show. But Connors, kicking the pulp out of his stompin' board, managed to play most of the songs his loyal fans wanted to hear. Among them: The Ketchup Song, Big Joe Mufferaw, Good-bye Rubberhead, Just Another Dang Twang and his encore, Sudbury Saturday Night.

He was backed by his opening act, Tim Hus and his five-piece band. Good thing. After the half-hour break, Hus came back out and played five or six songs as many in the audience wondered what the heck happened to Stompin' Tom.

When he finally returned, he kicked it up, literally, with a rousing rendition of The Hockey Song.

Of course, he tweaked the lyrics to say "the puck is in, the Sens win, the good old hockey game."

You don't last more than 50 years as a performer if you can't play to your audience, and that was just one more example from the master.