OUR LADY PEACE, While not exactly in the same league as Bon Jovi , are certainly big news in the States. Debut album 'Naveed' has gone platinum, while this year's 'Clumsy' is not far behind.

Kudos, then for local radio station The Buzz for putting this event together. It takes a certain amount of pull to shoe-horn a band of this profile into a space as small as the Hard Rock Cafe's tiny stage, where you can get to see them warts 'n' all, minus the flashy lighting, fog machines and other distractions. With the barriers dropped, there's nothing left but the group and the songs.

But for a band not fully up to the task... well, things are not so easy. Our Lady Peace are proficient enough, sure. Vocalist Raine Maida manages to emulate the sweeping, soaring performance he gives on the record without breaking sweat. And the songs he sings - 'Clumsy' 'Supermans Dead', 'Starseed', a cover of The Beatles 'Dear Prudence' are all up to par.

No the missing element is guts and grit. There's no drive or conviction, no feeling that what they're doing up there means anything. Our Lady Peace have a lot of well-deserved cred: they are far from being a manufactured, made-for-MTV band. Too bad that they look like one tonight.

Reviewed by Chris Smith