LONDON, Ont. -- A hot guy called Raine ruled at the Western Fair grandstand last night.

"We're going to play till they shut us down," shouted lead singer Raine Maida as his Our Lady Peace bandmates roared along early in the Toronto rock band's set before a crowd of 5,369 fans.

Our Lady Peace used plenty of material from its latest CD, Spiritual Machines (Columbia/Sony), to keep the energy surging. Bass player Duncan Coutts, drummer Jeremy Taggart, guitarist Mike Turner and "fifth Peace-keeper," Jamie Edwards, a Bostonian who plays guitars and keyboards, provided the power.

Maida provided the charisma.

The dark-haired singer looks a little like John Travolta. In fact, Maida wouldn't look out of place in a big-screen thriller.

He certainly saw plenty of screen time -- on the big video screens flanking the stage -- last night. Maida earned his screens and his screams with some early True North encouragement to the crowd.

"This is Canada, right?" he announced to cheers. "Then you better sing like . . . Canadians," he urged. The young fans, who were already moshing a lot, sang right back at him.

Our Lady Peace is certainly a democracy. It was Turner, for instance, who first turned his bandmates' minds to the ideas of U.S. computer wizard Ray Kurzweil. It is Kurzweil's creaky voice and ideas about the future computer/human blind date you hear all over Spiritual Machines.

Songs from Spiritual Machines -- including Life, Are You Sad?, Right

Behind You, and In Repair -- were all over the show. So were the visuals developed for the CD and a bit of the album's Kurzweil "vocal bytes."

Sure, it's a democracy. But Maida has the final vote with the rock gods and the fans.

Some people still don't seem to know he's married to Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, who headlined during the 2000 edition of the Western Fair. Like Kreviazuk, Maida isn't afraid to show true tenderness on stage.

In introducing a song called Car Crash, about just that, Maida was able to sound simple and decent and caring, a reflection of the spiritual in the midst of all that rock machinery, sound and lighting.

Our Lady Peace also has the songs built up in almost a decade of action to go with machinery. Among the familiar moments of Peace on display last night were Naveed, Clumsy and One Man Army.

Toward the show's end, the band showed off its bruising theme for WWF pro wrestler Chris Benoit, a fellow Canuck. Benoit's theme song is called Whatever and is already one of the heavier items in the Peace arsenal.

Before the encore -- 1994's Starseed -- the band also showcased some new, post-Spiritual Machines material. That's likely a clue to the next Our Lady Peace recording. Maida said last night's hard-rocking show will be the band's last for a while. Our Lady Peace will be in the studio in about "2ae weeks" to begin work on its new album.

Another Canadian hard rock band, Joydrop, had the opening slot. The Salads had a "pre-show" spot.

Stompin' Tom Connors headlines at the grandstand tonight.

(More on Our Lady Peace).