WINNIPEG - He makes it look so easy, doesn't he?

Brit-born guitar legend Mark Knopfler dazzled a sold-out Concert Hall crowd last night with a two-hour showcase of songwriting prowess and fingerpicked wizardry.

And in true Knopfler style, the esteemed rocker -- the very embodiment of a proper gentleman, right down to the cup of tea he's fond of hauling on stage with him -- seemed to barely even break a sweat.

Clad in a black button-up and jeans, Knopfler -- now 58 -- opened with the N'awlins-inspired Cannibals, from his debut solo disc Golden Heart. And while the former Dire Straits frontman's vocal delivery is best described as a pronounced mumble, the tune still got the assembled hootin' and hollerin', thanks largely to some spirited fiddle playing and bayou-appropriate accordion trills.

Oh, and Knopfler's guitar playing, of course, which was showcased even better on followup Why Aye Man, on which his effortless fretwork rang out clear as a bell.

Over the course of Knopfler's career, a lot of critics have chosen to equate that word -- effortless -- with uninspired, or lethargic, or otherwise lacking in whatever element they feel elevates a rock show from simply good to great.

But that wasn't the case last night, when it was impossible to miss the enthusiasm imbued in tracks like the Celtic-tinged What It Is -- where Knopfler traded hushed but still evocative phrasings with his violinist -- or the mini-epics Sailing to Philadelphia, True Love Will Never Fade and Hill Farmers Blues.

Speaking of epic, they don't get much better than Dire Straits' bluesy breakout hit Sultans of Swing (try NOT tapping your toe in time to that one) or the heartbreaking ballad Romeo and Juliet, which was perfectly served by Knopfler's deft touch and subdued singing style.

You know how they say less is more? This is exactly the kinda thing they're talking about.

A fun fact about last night's opening act: SoCal songstress Jesca Hoop once worked as a nanny for boho-troubadour Tom Waits and his partner Kathleen Brennan, and it's easy to see how she aced that particular job interview, especially if she submitted her folksy neo-traditional tunes as possible lullaby fare.

Though their deliveries are worlds apart, you could apply many of the same superlatives to Waits' work as Hoop's -- often comforting, sometimes chilling, and never anything less than completely captivating.