EDMONTON - We are in the midst of an all-Canadian trifecta of Great Singers Who Can't Sing.

Or perhaps we could be nice and say they are Great Singers whose Songs Are Best Done By Others.

Anyway, just in town was Gordon Lightfoot, whose voice has seen better days. Haven't we all, though?

On Saturday is Leonard Cohen, whose sepulchral rasp could be the Voice of Doom, should the Apocalypse happen soon and need a narrator.

And last night the famously warbly Neil Young held court for 10,500 fans at Rexall Place.

It is possible that there are more cover versions of Neil Young songs than actual Neil Young songs, but I'm not going to do the math.

Rest assured, however, that when Neil does his own thing, the source is unmistakable.

He sure was in powerful form last night. So he's not the greatest singer in the world. So he's not Steven Tyler.

Young howled, he moaned, he screamed, he shouted, he gave it everything he had. In short, what he might lack in vocal technique, he more than makes up for in passion.

Sweet backup vocals - including his wife Pegi - provided the perfect counterpoint.

Attired in blue jeans and plaid shirt, Neil got a standing ovation just for showing up.

After a quick acknowledgment to the fans, the band fired up Love and Only Love (from the 1990 record Ragged Glory) as Young hunkered down over his guitar and cranked up the grunge.

It's long been said that Young is the Godfather of grunge, the guru of all that is grungy - "grunge" being a term for the Seattle rock scene of the early '90s, its musicians famous for distorted guitars not quite in tune.

Young was all over that sound long before that, of course. Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) was the perfect example coming early last night - his HUGE guitar dominating the mix as the familiar, 30-year-old tune drew wild cheers from the crowd.

His guitar solos ruled the night - sometimes tasty, three-note riffs, sometimes just a barrage of feedback and noise.

He's not considered the greatest guitar player in the world, either, but when you play on the very edge like you just don't care about the consequences, the results are far more satisfying than any note-perfect solo by Joe Satriani.

While a guy painted pictures behind him - don't see that every day - on a stage that looked like the inside of an aircraft hangar, the 63-year-old Canadian legend barged through tunes from his latest CD, Fork in the Road, an environmentalist concept album, his last CD, Living With War - which explains itself - and all the way back through classics he's famous for in the first place.

Expected late in the show were such songs as Cinnamon Girl, a version of Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds and, of course, Heart of Gold.

Young can pretty much do anything at this point in his career, but if he didn't play Heart of Gold, his fans would kill him.

Overall, this was an awesome concert rich in earth tones, grungy goodness and plenty of crunchy guitar jams - a show where you could be absolutely sure there was no lip-synching whatsoever. So we got it all, warts and all.

And if you've come to a Neil Young concert to complain about hacked endings or wrong notes, then perhaps you're in the wrong place.

You could complain that the floor was general admission standing with "no moshing" signs in the concourse to remind the middle-aged fans not to crowd surf, but we'll let it pass.

Young's unmistakable raw-boned, ragged-assed, roots-rock stylings were what we came for.

This guy is still the real deal.