WINNIPEG -- The weather outside may have been frightful last night, but inside the Burton Cummings Theatre, the vibe given off by reggae-rock trio Bedouin Soundclash was as welcome as a summer breeze.

OK, so the "rock" tag is a bit of a misnomer, given the Bedouin boys -- Toronto natives Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Pat Pengelly -- tend to imbue their tunes with ska and acoustic-pop elements, too. But they definitely had the summer thing all sewn up, from the island-inspired music to the palm fronds decorating their backdrop flag.

"I know it's cold outside," said frontman Malinowski, after the trio opened with a surprisingly hefty version of Until We Burn in the Sun (The Kids Just Want a Love Song), the fiery first track from their latest disc Street Gospels. "But we're gonna make it hotter in here."

And true to their word, they did just that, padding the first half of their show with the jittery drum beats of Living In Jungles, the gangland vocals of St. Andrews (which came courtesy of some of the kids in their opening band), and the spooky dance-rhythms of Rude Boy Don't Cry.

Adding weight to the band's sound was an onstage keyboard player who bolstered Sinclair's basslines with some chilly organ trills. But it was Malinowski's echoey rasp that rose above all the skanking on tracks like Criminal, Jeb Rand and anticipated closers 12:59, Walls Fall Down and breakout hit When the Night Feels My Song.

Earlier in the evening, California kid Matt Costa proved every bit as far-reaching as the Bedouin crew, skipping deftly from outlaw country grooves to Bowie-esque Brit-rock to piano-heavy jangle-pop, all in the span of just 40 minutes.

Before Costa, Burlington sextet The Saint Alvia Cartel did their best to warm up the crowd -- (literally, it was freezing in there) -- with a half-hour of ska-heavy punk-pop. Blending emo harmonies with Clash-like riffs, the boys came off like a younger version of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, minus all the horns and the general annoyingness, of course.