TORONTO -- On this side of the pond, we'd call British music legend Marianne Faithfull "a great broad."

Back home, perhaps, she'd be a "tough old bird."

Either way, the 55-year-old performer is a survivor, still brimming with delicious character and a unique style that served her well during an enthralling 95-minute concert at The Phoenix on Tuesday night.

As she joked during the encore: "Sorry, but I have to go to bed. If I hadn't spent all those years fooling around, it could have been a three-hour show."

Faithfull, performing in Toronto for the first time since 1997, is back on the road in support of Kissin' Time, her latest album. It features collaborations with Beck, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and Blur.

It's a decidedly modern collaboration after earlier records steeped in Brechtian cabaret, and Wednesday night's performance reflected that as she was backed by a four-piece rock band made up of Scottish and Irish musicians.

Faithfull is perhaps best known as the girlfriend of Mick Jagger during England's swinging '60s, who was discovered by then Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and broke through with a cover of the Jagger-Richards tune, As Tears Go By, before a failed suicide attempt and heroin addiction took its toll.

She did not perform her first hit on Tuesday night, but there were plenty of other tunes that Faithfull's whiskey-soaked, husky voice made memorable.

Among the standouts were her late '70s post-punk hits Broken English, Working Class Hero and Why D'ya Do It? along with new songs, Wherever I Go, I'm On Fire, Like Being Born, The Pleasure Song, Sliding Through Life On Charm, the album's title track, and Song For Nico.

The latter song she wrote about the '60s icon who didn't survive but remains best known for her work with the Velvet Underground.

"It was a nightmare being a chick singer in the '60s, and really frustrating," explained Faithfull.

"We didn't just take drugs because we were bad. Well maybe, a little bad. And I'm sure Nico was hard to work with and blah, blah, blah, but so f---ing what?"

She even showed off brand new songs for her next album, including A King At Night, which she described as "a porno love song."

Faithfull certainly deserved more than the crowd of 500 who came out to see her, enthusiastic though they were.

She was glamorous in an elegant black tuxedo suit, pearls, diamond earrings and black leather, finger-less gloves adorned with tiny chains. One concert-goer handed her a rose while others cheered whenever she showed off delicate yet deliberate dance moves or simply lit up a cigarette and smiled.

And when she mistakenly referred to the crowd as "a great Montreal, ooops, Toronto audience," they immediately forgave her.

When one over-eager fan yelled out a song request, Faithfull commanded: "Be patient -- this is the only time of my life that I'm ever really in control, so indulge!"

Gladly. (More on Marianne Faithfull)

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5