In line for the bathroom at the Jack Singer Concert Hall last night, the man ahead of me raved about Steve Earle's opening act, Damhnait Doyle.

  "Some people don't check out the opening acts, but I trust Steve Earle to get someone who plays music as good as his is," he said.

  Earle -- looking straight out of a street gang -- scorched through a set of unholy country rock, opening with I Feel Alright, from his new album, and winding his way through his back catalogue.

  The highlight of the show was an acoustic set that left Earle unaccompanied centrestage for about a half-dozen songs.

  The hauntingly pure Goodbye (covered by Emmylou Harris on last year's Wrecking Ball album) cut to the heart of a relationship killed by cocaine.

  And you could probably draw political conclusions from his rendition of Ellis Unit I (from the Dead Man Walking soundtrack), the tale of a prison guard tortured by his job on death row. But the sound had that sense of humanity which characterizes all of Earle's best work.

  As wonderful as the performance was -- detailed, distorted and honest -- it was hard not to wonder if Earle is the last of a dying breed of musicians who are more at home on stage than on MuchMusic.

  His well-publicized battle with drugs added resonance to his comment to the crowd of 1,200, "It's good to be back."

  On this night -- to catcalls and howls of delight -- it seemed appropriate, instead of intrusive.