TORONTO - With some in tears, some others trembling, most screaming hysterically and all singing along, one question lingered after the Jonas Brothers' North American Burning Up tour launch last night at the Molson Amphitheatre.

Where the hell was Ringo?

Sure, singer-guitarist Nick Jonas tried his hand pounding the skins a handful of times, but the frenzy surrounding the band would probably be this year's equivalent of Beatlemania.

And with good reason. With brisk ticket sales, new album A Little Bit Longer looming and film, book and television projects in the works, one could say they're fab. For now.

Opening with That's Just The Way We Roll, Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas rose from the back on a platform that dropped them near the front of the multi-tiered stage. With pyrotechnics, fireworks, video screens and fireballs, the group made sure fans got their money's worth.

Following the punk-lite, power pop of Hold On, lead singer Joe Jonas welcomed the screaming hordes to the Burning Up tour. "I think it's time we got the party started," he said to ear-piercing cries before launching into BB Good off the upcoming record.

But like any sort of crowd-pleasers, the Jonas Brothers at times appeared to be trying far too hard with the props and eye candy. Whether it was with Joe and Kevin raised on pedestals during the acoustic-tinged Hello Beautiful or later on with fire shooting from the band's logo high above during the homestretch with Burnin' Up, it got to be a bit much.

Plus, when Nick and Joe did backflips and spinning karate kicks on a rather thin walkway jutting out from the main stage, it was nothing short of ridiculous.

Maybe they were trying to atone for the fact that hundreds of fans were initially annoyed when they realized the homemade signs they spent minutes or even hours creating would be left in garbage bins at the front gates.

Nonetheless, as much as the fans' adoration for these three would result in a well-deserved backlash, there isn't enough in the songs to truly hate or get irritated by. The crisp Goodnight And Goodbye brought to mind something British group The Fratellis might consider while Year 3000 is a harmless pop ditty.

There were a few drawbacks though, aside from the lush, orchestral opening featuring an eight-piece string section made of cellists and violinists. When Nick Jonas opted to do A Little Bit Longer, a song about being diagnosed with diabetes, he should've made it a whole lot shorter instead of dragging it on as long as he did.

Another miscue was a rather paltry cover of Shania Twain's I'm Gonna Getcha Good that looked like it wasn't clicking on all cylinders.

But when they were on, they were decent, especially on the closing one-two punch featuring the sappy, piano ballad When You Look Me In The Eyes and the dance-rock flavouring oozing from S.O.S. Meanwhile, newer material such as Love Bug and Can't Have You also fared quite well.

Opening for Jonas Brothers was Demi Lovato, another teen sensation waiting to saturate the market. Lovato's 30-minute set was high on teen-friendly pop rock that brought to mind Miley Cyrus.