WINNIPEG - OK, so it wasn't the end of days.

But last night's Four Horsemen show -- featuring roots legends Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Joe Ely and Guy Clark -- was still pretty apocalyptic in its own right.

Not in the biblical sense, of course -- there were no plagues of locusts or lakes of fire. But if you were lucky enough to be among the nearly sold-out crowd at the Centennial Concert Hall yesterday, you probably weren't alone in thinking you'd died and gone to heaven.

The four friends performed in a workshop-style set-up, taking turns in the spotlight, sharing good-natured jokes and stories, and dropping in on each other's numbers with the comfort and ease that can only come from having done this kind of thing before. (And they have, for the record, hitting the road together about once a year since 1989).

Appropriate then, that Clark kicked the evening off with a haunting tune about old friends, getting an assist from Ely on guitar for the second verse, and scoring some tender "they shine like diamonds" harmonies from Lovett on the chorus.

Then it was Ely's turn, with a far more urgent country western ballad that built to a thundering crescendo, thanks to a few Big Valley-style flourishes from Hiatt.

Then Hiatt, with a jaunty ode-to-cabin-fever -- you're not the only one who knows about the wintertime blues, fella -- then Lovett, with a touching lament about a fallen cowboy called Fargo. And so on and so forth, casting a palpable spell over the crowd each time.

This, we suppose, is what they mean by "knowing your audience."

The performers on the Four Horsemen tour all have distinct playing and singing styles: Clark's is weathered, Lovett's is stately, Ely's is boisterous and Hiatt's is gruffly defiant. But together or alone, they all prove to be completely captivating presences.

The show wasn't perfect, of course, but that was kind of the point. The rambling introductions, the indiscriminate song selection, even the flubs (at one point, Clark uttered a sheepish, "Aww, s---," after goofing the opening to a sweetly sentimental tune about a boy jumping off his garage); it all served to heighten both the spontaneity and the intimacy of the experience.

"We have come here to sing you some songs we have written, some that we know, and some we don't," Clark said by way of introduction. "It's gonna be very casual -- we have no set list, no agenda, no clue and we have no fear."

Amen to that.

Sun rating: 4 out of 5