Music legend Willie Nelson performed for about 8,500 fans last night at the 'Dome. (Photo: JIM WELLS, Sun)

CALGARY -- It's fitting Willie Nelson should perform in Calgary the day after the Stampede wrapped up.

It would, after all, have been embarrassing for a man who's a true country music original to be associated with an event that encourages accountants to pretend they're real cowboys.

Instead, Nelson -- the outlaw, the original -- was able to showcase the sound and the songs that have kept him for the last 30 years comfortably on the outside looking in at the rest of the Nashville scene.

From opener Whiskey River to the classic Patsy Kline track Crazy, Nelson -- who sounded exactly as he should -- and his remarkable band of family and friends provided an evening of real country music, performed with a respect for its real roots and real future.

Yes, he avoided most of the material from his excellent latest release, the reggae-influenced Countryman, and lesser-known experimental material, concentrating instead on his hits.

But they were performed with such a timeless intimacy you could almost forget you were watching a 72-year-old legend who's performed many of these songs a million times.

There's only one greatest outdoor show on Earth. There's only Willie Nelson. And hopefully never the twain -- pun intended -- shall meet.

The reception afforded Ottawa-native Kathleen Edwards was a pretty good indication that the Willie fans in attendance were out for instant gratification (i.e.: they wanted to hear a hit).

Sure, they were polite, but didn't seem all too interested in Edwards' gorgeous voice and thoughtful Americana, which straddles the genres of country, folk and rock.

It was only when she and her band dropped a couple of covers into her 45-minute set -- most notably a wonderful version of Linda Ronstadt's When Will I Be Loved -- did most people actually warm up to her.

Still Edwards was the picture of charm and grace, oozing all of that talent and likability that's earned her critical acclaim and the reputation as a singer-songwriter who will have a long, illustrious career.