TORONTO - Is it just me or does it seem odd - and maybe just a little bit sad - that confessional Canadian alt-pop star Alanis Morissette is currently opening for mainstream-pop rockers Matchbox Twenty on a tour that stopped last night at the Air Canada Centre?

Isn't that like Shania Twain opening for Rascal Flatts?

Maybe not given Morissette's popularity had noticeably dimmed since her soaring ride to the top in the mid-'90s with her scorned-woman anthem, You Oughta Know, from her mult-platinum disc, Jagged Little Pill.

Not so long ago the 33-year-old Ottawa native could have filled the ACC with similarly-minded, sensitive females all on her own, but last night there was a much smaller crowd of maybe 8,500 and a lot of them seemed to be Matchbox Twenty rather than Morissette fans.

Performing on a stage decorated with a large painted backdrop of a long-haired woman with her hands clenched in prayer, Morissette's disembodied voice was first heard as she sang off-stage.

And when she eventually appeared, dressed in a sparkly black top, black leather pants with her long, lighter brown hair worn straight down, Morissette stepped only into slightly higher gear with older hits Uninvited, All I Really Want, and Eight Easy Steps.

While she still has a massively powerful voice, her performing skills have always been fairly limited to pacing the stage, whipping her hair around, and not much more.

It wasn't until Hand In Pocket that she finally galvanized the crowd, who engaged in a spirited singalong that was only repeated later during Ironic, the final song of her 55-minute set.

The other highlight was her Internet-popularized cover version of the Black Eyed Peas' My Humps, which featured her in a pink boa and four of her five male bandmates gathered around her, before she segued into You Oughta Know, which prompted loud cheers from the audience although they stayed rooted to their seats.

Similar low-key reactions greeted You Learn and Thank U.

Morissette also played a few tracks from her forthcoming new album, Flavours Of Entanglement, due sometime in April, including the leaked track, Underneath, and two other songs, Eastern influenced and percussion-heavy for the most part.

Meanwhile, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas - and apparent sex symbol judging from the female cat calls that came during his band's overlong, two-hour set - could been seen off to one side of the stage observing Morissette early in her performance.

His group, rounded out by guitarists Kyle Cook and Paul Doucette (formerly the drummer), bassist Brian Yale and two touring members including Toronto keyboardist Matt Beck, are on the road for their 2007 hybrid release - part greatest hits, part six-song LP - Exile On Mainstream, a reference to the most common dig about their bland if radio-friendly sound.

Kicking off with How Far We've Come and If I Fall, both from Mainstream, the audience immediately jumped to their feet and remained there as older hits Real World and Disease followed with a moving video backdrop providing some much-needed eye candy.

Thomas, who is a far more interesting in person than his midde-of-the-road music would suggest, then moved over to piano for All I Need before returning to the front of the stage to strap an acoustic guitar on for The Difference, which was followed by another new song, I Believe You When, before a string of hits - Back 2 Good, 3 AM, and Bent.

But it was really when the group shrank down to a quartet for acoustic versions of Hang - including some nice vocal work by Cook - and If You're Gone, which prompted a big sing-and-clapalong, that the show finally became more interesting.

Even the ballad, Hand Me Down, accompanied by home movies and some nice guitar work by Cook (he seems to be the only one with any kind of edge) stood out from the rest of the hits like So Sad, So Lonely, All Your Reasons, and Long Day.

The new tune, These Hard Times, got a visual boost from everyone holding their cellphones up in the air, while Downfall and Bright Lights (with Thomas back on piano) and a cover of The Beatles' She Came In Through The Bathroom Window ended the set on a soulful note before encore hits like Unwell and Push, plus a surprise cover of Naked Eyes' version of Always Something There To Remind Me.

SUN RATING: 2.5 out of 5