TORONTO - It started like a beautiful dream many music critics have had at one time or another the last decade -- standing inside the squared circle with a member of a boy band in the opposite corner, in this case the Backstreet Boys.

But alas the chance to rage against boy band (now man band) mania was not to be last night at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre as the group came into town on their Unbreakable world tour behind the 2007 album of the same name.

Instead the remaining quartet (Kevin Richardson jumped ship in 2006) of Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter provided more ammunition that the genre is still beating.

Coming out like prize fighters ready for a 100-minute bout of hits, the foursome kicked things off with Larger Than Life while pretending to spar with each other. McLean, with the boxing nickname "The Jizzle," definitely seemed to fill out the heavyweight category a bit more than the others but still managed to hold up his end of the bargain.

In fact all four did a bit more choreography this time around, but it was in spurts. The dance pop of Everyone and the reggae-tinged Any Other Way had them doing moves they probably never would've attempted with Richardson. But this time around it seemed a bit better.

However, seeing Howie Dorough wearing a Black Sabbath T-shirt early on was tantamount to heavy metal sacrilege.

Nonetheless, Backstreet Boys slowed things down occasionally by using a few chairs to relax in while delivering songs such as Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely as they sat around a table pretending to play cards. On other occasions they took a page from The Eagles and sat on stools for More Than That, which generated a loud sing-along.

After acknowledging the energy of the near-capacity, predominantly female crowd, Nick Carter even quipped that McLean "looks like he's from Canada" with his scruffy beard.

Perhaps what seemed to fall flat, aside from Carter's segment, were the solo spots each member did. Littrell and Carter, having both released solo albums years ago, were fine on their own tunes, with Carter's I Got You working very well.

On the other hand, McLean and Dorough both have some work to do before completing their solo albums that are on the horizon. McLean's rock-oriented Drive By Love ran out of gas early while Dorough's Latin-laced She's Like the Sun brought to mind a poor man's Marc Anthony, complete with dancing that looked like the singer was in pain.

It almost made one yearn for them to make another Backstreet Boys album instead.

Almost.

But once that was over with, Backstreet Boys resorted to their boy band warhorses such as Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) (which featured old video footage of the four) and As Long As You Love Me, both delivered in a somewhat medley-like manner with some '70s style arrangements.

When they returned back to an earlier period, as was the case with a '50s doo-wop inspired portion featuring I'll Never Break Your Heart, it came off extremely well, garnering one of the biggest cheers of the night as they closed with "old school" harmonies which they still have.

Kicking off the homestretch, Backstreet Boys dished out The One and the electro-oriented Treat Me Right before The Call, Everybody (Backstreet's Back)and Shape Of My Heart capped off the highlights.

Opening for Backstreet Boys were newcomers Girlicious who had a short but sugar-coated half-dozen songs. The quartet, who will see their self-titled debut album in stores Tuesday, had the crowd in the palm of their hand during Stupid S--- and the strong Here I Am, all the while showing fans they can shake their collective bottoms repeatedly.