TORONTO - With the upcoming Winter Olympics in his own backyard and the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this week, it would've seemed reasonable for the oft-opinionated Matthew Good to say something Friday evening at Toronto's Massey Hall.

Yet for a majority of his 100-minute set before a near capacity house, Good kept delivering one guitar-driven rock song after another.

Even he appeared to be a bit surprised at his between-song silence, stating after a handful of tunes he was testing himself to see just how long he could go without stopping before talking.

Regardless, the musician and his tight three-piece band delved heavily into Good's latest album Vancouver, beginning with On Nights Like Tonight, a thoughtful, moody, ballad-leaning tune resembling some of his better earlier work in the Matthew Good Band.

Although he often let sideman and seasoned guitarist Stuart Cameron (son of the late John Allan Cameron) do the solo work on most of the songs, occasionally Good switched from an acoustic to electric guitar as was the case with The Boy Who Could Explode, a slow building effort the audience lapped up.

The first true highlight though - as far as the new material goes - was the strong and sinfully catchy Last Parade, the first single off Vancouver and a tune perfect for summer driving. It also resulted in more people getting off their backsides as Good struck gold with the chorus and the ensuing The Future Is X-Rated from 1999's Beautiful Midnight album.

As for the back catalogue, Good and crew were content to dole out a few hits but perhaps not as many as some might have expected. The train-chugging Born Losers went over great but Load Me Up (which included a snippet of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart) came off as run-of-the-mill as Good briefly looked up into the balcony and gallery areas. Meanwhile Strange Days wouldn't appear on this night but Apparitions was done in a tasteful, roots-tinged manner.

Finally, Good broke down for a few moments to shoot the breeze, discussing with Cameron and the audience the difference between the A Minor chord and the D Minor chord. Other topics included his ailing back and the unpredictability of '80s rock band The Replacements before Good suggested having a jaguar nearby to eventually devour Cameron onstage.

Weapon would be the last tune of the 11-song main set, but Good returned with a few more in the encore, including Giant and the punchy Us Remains Impossible which led to plenty of guitar riffing from both Good and Cameron. A lengthy Empty's Theme Park ventured into Crazy Horse territory briefly before it ended on a high.

But Good had one more surprise up his sleeve, strapping on an acoustic guitar and performing a fine rendition of Fake Empire by critical darlings (well, at least to this one) The National.

Sun Rating: 3.5 out of 5