So, the Great Canadian Battle of the Bands rolled into the Civic Centre last night, and I suppose you want to know who won.

It was shaping up to be a good fight for the 5,000 fans. Two young acts -- Vancouver's Moist and Toronto's I Mother Earth (supported by relative newcomer Mudgirl)-- touring in support of platinum-plus sophomore disks, each equally worthy of headliner status and each quite capable of turning in blazing live shows.

Based on past experience, I'd have given the edge to I Mother Earth, mainly because the relentlessly musical four-piece specializes in the kind of epic, jam-ready compositions that can turn into near-religious experiences in concert. But also because I confess to harboring a strong distaste for much of Moist's recorded product.

But, hey, credit where credit is due: I hereby crown Moist the victors. Not sure what prompted this sudden conversion. After all, the band's still playing the same songs -- noisy pop tunes with big choruses, slightly sinister melodies following the same successful formula established by its debut single, Push, a few years back. Maybe it was the infectious energy of crowd-surfing lead singer David Usher's possessed-rag-doll stage antics, or maybe it was the added wallop the band's flawless playing packs when it's coming at you with arena-level wattage.

I'll still take I Mother Earth's more adventurous brand of rhythmic, psychedelic hard rock any day, but something -- the cold? the hollow mix? the venue? -- seemed to be working against the band much of last night.

The same way a cassette tape drags when you leave it out in the car too long on a winter day, the Mothers -- joined on stage by a truly remarkable extra percussionist -- seemed sluggish out of the gate with a rendition of One More Astronaut that lacked the dynamic kick their best material usually delivers in concert.

Things picked up midway through, though, when guitarist Jagori Tanna joined his brother, drummer Christian Tanna, and the nameless fifth touring member for a smoking percussion jam. The Santana-ish energy generated there carried over into the remaining numbers, giving tunes like Used To Be Alright, Levitate and Rain Will Fall the layered, funky "oomph" that earlier numbers lacked.

Opener Mudgirl, aka Kim Bingham, rose to the task of (literally) warming up the crowd for the evening's co-headliners better than most smaller acts thrust on to arena stages.

Exuding cool confidence and winning humor, she led her fine backing trio through an all-too-brief set of bottom-heavy guitar-pop numbers, drawn from the excellent First Book EP and beyond, that translated surprisingly well to the larger venue.

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5