It's March 4th, the first night of Canadian Music Week, a time when a handful of emerging bands from everywhere try hard to be seen, and many prove worth seeing. It's also a week of homage, one recognizing the musicians that helped tattoo Canada its own musical mark. That said, it's only fitting that on night one a titan of the music scene is playing. Tom Cochrane, a seasoned veteran with over 10 albums to his credit and more hits than an acid dealer at Woodstock, is displaying his goods to a packed house at the Phoenix. A brilliant blend of acoustic numbers and bustling rockers, the show brims with full-ranged emotion. Cochrane lets the muse of the music navigate the course of the evening, running through a set that nods at the spectrum of his almost 20 year career, all the while dropping bits of history and personal anecdotes, using Nietzsche to intro "White Hot" and citing his 16-year-old daughter as the inspiration behind "Heartbreak Girl."

Cochrane kicks the night off with the brooding "Human Race" before touching on a heartfelt "Victory Day" and "Big League," then igniting with the steady pulse that is "I Wonder." Beginning with a trimmed arrangement of loosely fingered chords, the inertia builds then explodes with the full impact of the band as they crank through the first X-Ray Sierra single with the precision of an archer and the fluidity of Jackson Pollack. The audience, a mix of old and young, are alternating singing duties, randomly belting out choruses and verses whenever personal favorites drive them. Cochrane flashes his sheepish grin, now bordered with a goatee, with the sudden addition of the crowd. But it's the harmony of the 1000-plus fans during timeless classic "Life Is A Highway" that synergies band and audience; unifies fan and singer.

The song, originally written as "Love is a Highway" in the 1982, found its rebirth with the help of some keen A&R ears and John Webster, Cochrane's longtime bandmate and producer. 10 years later, "Life is a Highway" became a national anthem and further testimony to Tom Cochrane's unfailing ability to strike chords with fans worldwide, first with great songs and second with the seamless performance that has become his live show - a combination that proved, tonight and always, music washes the dust from the soul.