TORONTO - While there are several adjectives to describe The Fray's sold-out concert Monday night at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre, the one which keeps coming to mind is enlightening.

Well, make that en-lamp-ening.

The Denver pop band are currently staging a small "warm up" club tour behind their long-awaited self-titled second album out Feb. 3. But judging by the roughly two dozen floor lamps, desk lamps and chandeliers placed around and above the stage during the roughly 75-minute gig, The Fray want to ensure fans there are brighter days ahead.

That or they've sold their souls to Ikea.

Led by pianist and lead singer Isaac Slade, The Fray's signature piano-driven pop tunes were in full force from start to finish, at times resembling Coldplay as was the case on the opener Absolute off the upcoming record which earned a big cheer.

Having performed at the exact same venue roughly a month ago as part of an exclusive industry/contest winners show, the quartet (backed by two supporting musicians) went headlong into Syndicate, another rather formulaic but fairly good effort led by Slade's piano melodies.

Probably the big surprise of the night was how early one of their bigger hits appeared in the setlist. Over My Head (Cable Car) had the crowd singing along loudly while drummer Ben Wysocki caused a few nearby lamps to noticeably shake from his playing.

"I say this genuinely, it is good to be back in Toronto!" Slade said, perhaps forgetting the fact he was here around four weeks ago.

Regardless, The Fray continued on with its successful musical blueprints that have resulted in millions of sales. After the radio-friendly, mid-tempo All At Once, The Fray shone on another new tune Where The Story Ends with its meandering but effective chorus. And even the rather dour David Gray-like Say When came off better than expected.

Yet for those highlights, there were a few tunes that seemed to struggle along, including the somber Ungodly Hour and the odd and somewhat groovy We Build Then We Break in the encore, the latter breaking down rather quickly.

Following Look After You from 2005's How To Save A Life debut, Slade, Wysocki, guitarist Joe King and fellow guitarist David Welsh came to life on Enough For Now as Slade, seated at piano, powerfully delivered the ditty.

Meanwhile, with fans eagerly anticipating How To Save A Life, The Fray didn't disappoint but offered up a rather soft, acoustic version that had the crowd carrying most of the track as Slade closed by singing away from the microphone.

The homestretch featured a few new tunes such as Never Say Never and the set-closing You Found Me which ended on a high note. However, there was no quirky cover unlike a recent Denver show where the band (known to cover Shakira's Hips Don't Lie) tried Beyonce's Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).

The only bizarre cover came when Slade kicked off the encore, which ended with the uplifting Happiness, with a sparse cover of Summertime, previously done by dozens of artists ranging from Billie Holiday to Sam Cooke.