TORONTO -- "You're just how a home crowd should be," I Mother Earth singer Brian Byrne told his audience at the Warehouse last night. "Nice and rowdy."

Not exactly a profound stage-patter for a rock band. But, to I Mother Earth's credit, the sell-out crowd of 1,800 didn't need much egging on from the band.

The dedicated legion of fans churning up front went above and beyond the call of duty, helping hold up the gig when IME needed it most.

And need it they did, because no matter how hyperactive the crowd, the band may as well have doled out Ritalin tabs and tested the kids' attention spans with their heavy but meandering set.

Then again, with the busy Summer In The Void -- the first single off IME's current Blue Green Orange album -- the closest thing to a digestible pop tune, the audience undoubtedly knew what they were getting into.

With relatively new singer Byrne as cheerleader, guitarist Jag Tanna, drummer Christian Tanna, bassist Bruce Gordon and an auxillary percussionist generated sprawling, songs-within-songs like Love Your Starfish and Gargantua.

Before the jams got too played out, they turned on a dime with the especially crowd-rousing -- and strategically timed -- All Awake.

Clearly, a long stretch on the road has been good to I Mother Earth, who were in top playing form.

Unfortunately, there was the looming spectre of the Warehouse to deal with, and the band never overcame the swampy sound.

(Constantly blaming this venue has got me feeling like a broken record. The Warehouse can be a great space for a rave, or a band like The Chemical Brothers who've been wise enough to bring in their own quadrophonic sound system. But ongoing complaints from readers about the poor sound at rock shows proove that us critics aren't the only ones who think it needs an acoustic touch-up).

IME did fare better when they scaled down for the acoustic Good For Sule. A percussion-driven new tune, however, sounded dangerously like a version of Phil Collins' 1986 hit Take Me Home as read by Peter Gabriel. Very '80s. Quite silly.

One element that added to the excitement was watching Byrne feel out his role in the band.

It was impossible not to compare the Corner Brook, Nfld, singer with his predecessor Edwin, whom he replaced last year, and Byrne came off like the antithesis of Edwin's suave, detached star.

Instead, he was breathlessly keen, but seemed to go through the motions of what he thought a frontman should do -- including a constant, ill-advised roboto-dance.

It was a bit like watching a puppy chase after a car. Sure, you root for him, but when he get caught up in those wheels, it ain't pretty.

Still, there was spirit in spades.

Extra points to show openers Serial Joe, who recently scored an international record deal with Epic on the strength of their Canadian major-label debut, Face Down.

JAM! Rating: 3 out of 5