Just for a second, it must have struck fear into the hearts of parents at the Molson Amphitheatre last night: The sight of five men, clad in space suits and helmets, gyrating and robot-dancing on stage to the sound of the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars.

But no, it wasn't the start of some elaborate Chippendale routine.

It was just 'N Sync, the latest boy group to come grooving up I-95 in the wake of The Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and the rest of them to steal the fluttering hearts of the local pre-teen set.

And it was a good thing the dancing and singing sensations wore protective gear in their opening number. The piercing screams of the 9,000 girls in attendance would surely have bowled over a less well-equipped group.

Imagine the fever pitch when their helmets were dropped to reveal heart-throbs JC, Justin, Joey, Chris, and Lance -- 'N Sync in the flesh.

Of course, there was still a heavy layer of Gortex -- gloves included -- to come off as the track-suited 'N Sync strutted about to tunes from their self-titled debut album.

The group delighted their fans with their fluid and casual dance moves, hootin' and hollerin' and just-this-side-of-bad-boy posturing.

Somewhere in there were some half-baked soul melodies -- although it was hard to tell over the screaming, which was the real chorus of the evening.

'N Sync dabbled in the Jackson 5 repertoire. They pulled out an amusing a cappella medley of Bee Gees tunes that sounded strangely like five guys singing in the shower.

The young audience displayed a surprising number of cigarette lighters during the balled God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You.

'N Sync is cut from the same musical cloth as The Backstreet Boys. After all, they share a manager, a record label and even hail from the same Orlando manufacturing centre.

Sure, 'N Sync is pretty green. Their stage patter could have used a little work -- you don't say, "Hi I'm Justin," and not tell us your astrological sign.

Fortunately, the group have another 14 minutes to work on it.

'N Sync makes an appearance today at Planet Hollywood at 2 p.m.