TORONTO - After a five year hiatus, Nine Inch Nails returned to Toronto with a fittingly dramatic re-entrance at the Air Canada Centre last night.

Trent Reznor and his industrial womb of a band, including Alex Carapetis on drums, Aaron North on guitar, Alessandro Cortini on keyboards and Jeordie White on bass, all in black of course, hit the stage in a cloud of cliche and smoke, appearing as shadows behind sheer curtains and white lights.

It's doubtful any one of the black-lipsticked angsty audience members left unsatisfied.

In true Nine Inch Nails style, Reznor brilliantly juggled his familiar contradictions, namely, dark and light and loud and soft. But his thematic juxtapositioning is what stood out the most -- despite recurring lyrical themes of weakness and despair, the overall theme of the show was undoubtedly strength, evidenced in very strong vocal performances, musicianship, stage presence and physicality.

The 40-year-old frontman (who was, surprisingly, sporting a peculiar new buzz cut) said very little, but did offer his gratitude to the enthusiastic crowd.

"I would like to say thank you," Reznor said, before breaking into a cover of Joy Division's Dead Souls . "This was the fastest selling show on the tour. It's been a f--ked up year for a lot of people, so it means a lot that you're here."

Highlights included Reznor's vocal offerings during March Of The Pigs and the visual spectacle offered up for Right Where It Belongs (most of the night's setlist was made up of tracks off With Teeth, the band's most recent album). During the latter, the band retreated behind the sheer curtains once again, their shadows being replaced with video images of everything from wildlife to poverty to a dancing George Bush -- once again, displaying Reznor's affection for emotional jarring and unlikely combinations.

Openers Queens Of The Stone Age put on a good show for Queens Of The Stone Age fans -- strong vocals from Joshua Homme and a notably tight, full, blues-tinged set overall. They were a hit with those who still find new '70s-influenced hard rock relevant.

Also on the bill were local kids Death From Above 1979, although their 7 p.m. set served mainly as the audience entrance soundtrack. The homegrown indie-rock two-piece (made up of bassist Jesse Keeler and drummer Sebastien Grainger), who nonchalantly introduced themselves as "Death From Above 1979 from up the street," filled the space surprisingly well, given the sheer size of the venue versus their two bodies, and of course, what they're used to, namely, local five-buck clubs. They were well-received by those who were there that early, even though they seemed completely uninterested by the whole affair -- in true DFA 1979 style, of course.

It's worth pointing out how unexpectedly subdued the crowd was for a Nine Inch Nails show. Could it have had anything to do with the dryness of the place, given that this was the first of three concerts to be affected by the ACC's suspended liquor license? Probably just a coincidence.