WINNIPEG - Sometimes a sad song is just the thing to make everything better. And when teen-disgruntlement and despair are wrapped up in a feel-good pop-punk package, then even better yet.

Using that theory, there are at least 3,500 teens who should be feeling pretty good today after teen-angst poster boys Good Charlotte made their Winnipeg debut last night at the MTS Centre.

The first song of the night, Anthem, summed up the band's philosophy with its chorus of "I don't want to be like you," eagerly chanted by the excited audience.

Over the course of three albums the quintet of makeup-wearing 20-somethings have made a name for themselves getting to the root of what makes teens tick and serving it nicely wrapped in a glossy melodic sheen.

Led by vocalist Joel Madden and his twin brother Benji on guitar, the Maryland group doled out song after song about how no one seems to listen, the quest for true happiness and love gone wrong.

Most of the set was made up of tracks from their last two albums, Young and Hopeless and The Chronicles of Life and Death, with Walk Away (Maybe), S.O.S. and Girls and Boys setting the pace.

While the band is often compared to groups like Green Day and Blink 182, Good Charlotte somehow seem more mature than their elder counterparts, with less pandering and useless drivel between songs. They seemed genuinely sincere and fed off the young crowd's enthusiasm.

And no matter how depressing the lyrical subject matter, the band managed to make it all seem bearable with the Madden brothers' knack for turning negatives into positives.

"I wrote this one just for you guys," Joel said before keyboard-driven single We Believe, delivered just before press time an hour into the show

The two opening acts didn't offer anything that hasn't been done better by other bands.

Edmonton quartet Social Code delivered a by-the-numbers set of energetic, yet slightly wimpy, melodic punk with the occasional anthemic chorus.

Their best numbers were their singles, Beautiful and Whisper to a Scream, a hit in 1984 for obscure British group Icicle Works, which bookended the 40-minute set of material from their debut album Year at the Movies.

Australian natives Day of Contempt were the heaviest band of the night with their metallic edge, but indistinguishable from countless other groups who mix guttural screaming with less raunchy vocals from their guitarist.

The gimmick may have been fresh when they started seven years ago, but is rapidly approaching its-best before date.