When it comes to music matters, celebrity is no indicator of quality. Able to walk unmolested down any street outside Canada, Blue Rodeo remains a band that can still unleash a plethora of soul-stirring tunes at the drop of a hat.

Which is exactly what went down at the first of two concerts at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre Friday night, as the grand old men of Canadian alt-country delivered two hours of hits and near misses with a set list spanning their remarkable 30-year career.

The band’s comfort with its own past was immediately apparent; singers Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor wedged either side of a lone microphone at the show’s start to hit perfect harmonies on 1987’s “Heart Like Mine.” 1992’s “Fools Like You” followed next. Shifting units of their latest release is not this band’s raison d’être for being on the road.

“1000 Arms,” the title track of last year’s album, arrived five songs into the set. And even though Cuddy’s introduction proved more poignant than the song itself, the arrival of a couple of less than stellar newer numbers (the jaded “Superstar” suggested a less-than-inspired day in the recording studio), only magnified the inherent excellence of the best of the night’s offerings.

Blue Rodeo almost made it look too easy. Bereft of swagger, barely moving throughout and delivering polite, well-rehearsed links between songs, the Blue Rodeo formula almost sounds mundane on paper. At multiple moments it seemed like the band was playing it safe, only to turn the tables by pulling a melody sprinkled with magic from nowhere.

“Palace of Gold” was a prime example; its stately pace elevated by a pair of accordion and mandolin solos as the entire band gathered at the front of the stage to create an aura of back porch intimacy.

“This is a song about one of the sh*ttiest shows we ever had to play,” smiled Keelor, a familiar story reaching its abridged apex as an introduction to “What am I doing here?” a perfect example of Blue Rodeo’s mastery of no frills lyrics, melody and harmony.

“Til I Am Myself Again” naturally had the crowd on its collective feet, who went on to sing the entire first verse and chorus of “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” accompanied only by a few gentle strums from Keelor’s guitar and Cuddy’s mandolin. The band eventually relieved the audience of its duties, filling the sonic spectrum to reveal a pop masterpiece.

After such a sublime moment, the encore bordered on underwhelming, Cuddy’s “Try” and a rare vocal outing for bassist Bazil Donovan on countrified Dean Martin cover “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me” both failing to hit the heights of what had gone before.

But the show received a fittingly spectacular finale as Keelor welcomed support band Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins back onto the stage to provide a full-bodied choir for the majestic “Lost Together.”

Generous enough to give Hawkins the lead vocal on the second verse and chorus, Blue Rodeo proved once again why they’re a Canadian institution. International celebrity may have bypassed this wonderful band, but songs as great as this will outlive us all.

Blue Rodeo will play a second show at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre Saturday night.