Living legend Bob Dylan performed at the Air Canada Centre last night. (File photo)

TORONTO - Distant but dignified. Dignified but distant. But in decidedly good voice.

This may invite the wrath of multitudes, but Bob Dylan is not the most compelling live act, visually speaking.

That is in no way meant to question the 65-year-old Dylan’s status as a legend or his continued above-average output in the recording studio. He’s Bob Dylan, for goodness sake, the voice of a generation whether he wants to be or not.

The vast majority of the sold-out crowd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto last night assuredly went home happy because they got to see and hear Bob Dylan in person. But the hearing bit was by far the best part.

In 2006, perhaps you go to a Dylan concert mainly to be able to say that you saw him. His live show — evaluated strictly as a show — is achingly plain.

Still, only Paul McCartney can match Dylan these days for the sense of history that is in evidence when he walks on stage. And from the first few phrases of opener Maggie’s Farm last night, Dylan’s raspy voice was notably rich and deep, combining with his stellar and tastefully reserved band to fill the vast venue with surprising depth.

Dressed in black cowboy attire, Dylan didn’t move much or speak until he introduced his band prior to the final song, All Along The Watchtower. And if you were sitting on the south side of the arena, you rarely saw Dylan’s face because he spent all night standing at a keyboard facing north.

Simplistic charm aside, it would have been nice had a big video screen been set up. It’s common practice at major rock shows in the 21st century, and as Dylan should know as well as anyone, the times do change.

But as Dylan played chestnuts like She Belongs To Me and Tangled Up In Blue, as well as songs from his new CD Modern Times, you could close your eyes and still feel as if you were getting your money’s worth. That’s rare.

And at the end of it all, there even was a visual memory to take home, too.

After the lights went down and the applause was just dying down, the lights came back on and Dylan was standing there, swaying slightly, as his band stood stoically behind him. No waving, no mugging, just taking in the ovation.

Pretty cool stuff. Distant but dignified, you might say.

There aren’t many performers famous enough to attract Foo Fighters as an opening act, but Dylan is one of them.

Foo frontman Dave Grohl engineered a truncated version of the acoustic concert his band played at the Hummingbird Centre mere months ago.

Grohl last night got a standing ovation for his solo run at Best Of You, but he admitted he initially had left the song off the ACC setlist.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to scream at people for four minutes, it might freak them out,” Grohl said. “But then a friend of mine said, ‘Dude, they’re Dylan fans, come on.’ ”