TORONTO -- Dolores O'Riordan, the pint-sized lead singer of Irish pop group The Cranberries, possesses one of those rare gifts: A powerful voice that sounds as good live as it does on record. Pity we couldn't hear it better on Saturday night as her band played Massey Hall for a sold-out show in support of their latest album, Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. Arriving in Canada after playing three months in Europe, perhaps the Cranberries were used to much larger venues. Whatever the reason, the sound mix often drowned out O'Riordan's vocals in favour of guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler, a touring keyboardist and second guitarist. It was only about half way through the concert that O'Riordan's potent ethereal voice started to get its due, beginning with the songs Loud And Clear and Desperate Andy. No matter. The enthusiastic audience, on their feet from the concert opener, the title track from Wake Up, never really backed down throughout the hour-and-50-minute show. In fact, their propensity for singalongs often made up for the frustrating fact that we couldn't hear O'Riordan on all her glory. She was not a disappointment in her showmanship abilities, kicking off the concert in a Mardi Gras mask, sequined top, short skirt and go-go boots and dancing jerkily around the stage. Two more costume changes would follow, favouring feathers and sequins, and even if O'Riordan's leaving the stage to change sometimes meant for extended awkward moments, the visual payoff was usually worth the wait. Matching O'Riordan in the animated department was Stephen Dorf-lookalike Lawler on drums, who got rid of his shirt at one point as an added bonus. The Hogan brothers looked, though, as if they'd rather be somewhere else. Wake Up is clearly a more sedate album than its predecessors, and it was anthemic rockers like Zombie, Salvation, Ridiculous Thoughts, and This Is The Day and upbeat pop gems like Analyse, Animal Instinct, When You're Gone, Linger, Promises and Dreams that kept the pacing up. The Cranberries have always been well received in this town with O'Riordan marrying local boy Don Burton years ago and the couple having a cottage in Peterborough. At one point, O'Riordan -- now a mother to two young children -- was even handed a placard saying "Happy Mother's Day, Dolores" from a fan at the front of the stage. (More on the Cranberries)