From the 14th row of the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, I am vibrating in my seat. The band I'm about to see is one I've loved for about 14 years, though I've only seen them live once before tonight. I know Barenaked Ladies are incredible showmen, and I'm very excited.

     The lights go down, and the show starts on the giant screens before they take the stage. Giant letters spell out "Barenaked Ladies are Me," and a large hand comes onto the screen to fill in extra letters: Mexican, Mediterranean, Melodious, Meticulous, Mezzo-Sopranos, (a) Metaphor, Melting, Mean-spirited, Meteoroids, Medicine Men/Medicine Balls/Meat Balls/Meat Loaf, Mentally ill, Meow, Melba toast, Messing with you,... and finally HERE! The quintet takes the stage to the energetic beat of "One Week," surprising me by not starting with a new song. The second song wasn't new, either - though I can hardly complain about a personal favorite, "The Old Apartment" being chosen!

     From here, the band takes a turn for the random, as any BNL fan would expect sooner or later, with a rap crediting their opener (Juno Award nominee Tomi Swick), introducing some of the band members, and then discussing the speech given by environmentalist David Suzuki just prior to their performance. Only these guys could find a way to repeat the line, "David Suzuki was whipping t-shirts!" in such an enthusiastic and crowd-pleasing manner, while at the same time displaying their own focus on environmentalism, before segueing back into the "standard" (if such a word can be used to describe anything BNL has ever done) musical performance with the first new song of this performance, the ever-catchy "Sound of Your Voice."

     Before the next rap, the boys hit two more old favorites: "Hello City," (a surprise, at a hometown show) and "In the

Car." The second rap, which further introduced the band and which part of the city each member is from, including the joke, "Bloor? Hardly knew 'er! What're you talking about?" which brings uproarious laughter from the Toronto-based crowd, and is thus repeated several more times before the rap concludes and moves into "Get in Line." I don't actually recognize this song, but the catchy tune and lyrics stick with me, and I make a note to buy the song later. Though Ed Robertson breaks a string during "Too Little Too Late," his guitar tech is on the ball with a "rock and roll guitar change" and the song goes on seamlessly, leading into Ed's diatribe about trying to purchase curling stones in London, Ontario, and how the babysitter he's hired was born the same year as the next song, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time," was recorded - 17 years prior.

     No more than two or three songs ever pass without the guys clowning around on stage somehow. There is no question they know how to work an audience and keep us entertained with more than just their music - as if their intelligent lyrics were not enough for us! They discuss bluegrass (personified, no less, as a rebellious teenager singing Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield"), and "bringing the banjo back to the ACC." Tyler Stewart gives the other guys (and the audience) a lesson in bongo-playing, including Fred Flintstone's running and Steve Austin's bionics. The whole band stages a mock-fight during "Angry People," under the guise of a boy-band, still posing even while the fight continues. These crazy antics are simply what they do.

     Along with their silliness comes a heightened sense of wit. In "Pinch Me," Ed spontaneously changes the lyrics, again making us laugh with the lines, "and run through with my Speedo on," "change into my sister's clothes," and of course, "I just made you throw underwear," complete with a polka-dotted

bra dangling from the neck of his guitar, thrown onto the stage by an enthusiastic fan.

     Stephen Page stuns us all with an a capella intro to one of my all-time favorite songs, "Brian Wilson." The spotlight centers on him for dramatic effect, and I am spellbound for the duration of the song, which closes their set.

     The Ladies leave the stage and thunderous applause behind them, eventually returning for "Easy," and the song without which no BNL show would be complete: "If I Had $1,000,000." While this is the one song I never listen to, the live effect is an altogether different ballgame. Longtime fans know that while this song is never omitted from a set-list, it's also never quite the same in any two given shows. For tonight's show, the song is personalized for a Toronto audience, with lines about installing a fireman's pole in the CN Tower and a sign-language joke based on flipping someone off - the supposed Western Canada sign for Toronto. Also mentioned are hot dogs, as the truly environmental food due to their recycled properties - aka "Crosby, Stills, Lips & Assholes."

     After all this, a truly remarkable evening wraps up with another favorite of mine: "Call and Answer." The ACC lights up like a starlit sky as audience members' cellphones replace what would once have been waving lighters. The image of all the glowing displays - probably 500 to 1000 in total - all around the stadium is what stays with me as I eventually head out and wait for the Go train.