TORONTO - One of the funniest moments from the movie This Is Spinal Tap occurred when the band received second-billing behind "puppet show" on the marquee.

But by combining music and puppets last night at the Ricoh Coliseum, Beck put on one of the most creative concerts you ever will see.

Beck, a singer/songwriter/hip-hop rapper/funky hipster who defies definition, always is interesting. But last night he pushed "interesting" toward "bizarre" with fun results.

The puppets bore likenesses to Beck and his band, and throughout the night the big video screen provided close-ups not of the human beings, but of the performing puppets.

Late in the show, a fully set dinner table emerged and Beck's band sat around it. Beck serenaded them with his acoustic guitar and it ended with the kind of rocked-up glass-clinking session that would get any kid grounded.

It wasn't all about the sideshows, though. Beck and his band sounded crisp and clear as they weaved through the better-known songs of his decade-plus career (Loser, Devil's Haircut, Where It's At) as well as tunes from his new CD The Information (Elevator Music, Cellphone's Dead).

You might think the puppet bit would get tiresome, but it never got old, despite some minor technical difficulties experienced by the "puppet-cam."

"We thought a lot about the puppets' eyes," Beck said in an interview with the Toronto Sun prior to the show (see adjoining story). "Finally we settled on black dots."

Uh, because that's the most terrifying thing for children?

"And adults, too," Beck said with a smile.

Musically and theatrically speaking, Beck is no puppet.