CALGARY -- Our Lady Peace are at that point in their career where they can be playing clubs in the U.S. one week and packing hockey arenas in Canada the next.

OLP's second-ever Canadian arena tour arrived at the Saddledome last night and, interestingly, their performance conveyed both nightclub intimacy and arena grandiosity.

Early on, the Toronto group opted for stark simplicity.

The five members were all bathed in dull pink light, four police flashers making up their light show at this point.

It proved an effective beginning, as their music was infernal and claustrophobic.

Then, much to the delight of the 6,000 in attendance, OLP turned up the lights and turned on the dazzle.

Taking a page out of the Rush and Supertramp books, OLP beamed short films featuring characters from their album jackets onto a huge screen behind the stage while performing.

Initially dismissed in some quarters as grunge bandwagon- jumpers, OLP have now developed their own identity.

They're certainly an artier band than some people initially gave them credit for.

Raine Maida's nasally voice was strangely compelling; the rhythm section navigated tricky time signatures with ease, and guitarist Mike Turner -- wearing headphones throughout the show -- proved impressively versatile, unleashing Nirvana-style power chords or finessing mood-enhancing textures.

Welsh trio The Stereophonics turned in that rare opening act set that thrilled the few faithful and converted almost everyone else. They're reputed to be one of the best live acts currently performing, and they showed that the hype isn't entirely unjustified.