TORONTO -- The Red Hot Chili Peppers moved back and forth between lukewarm and sizzling last night during their sold-out show at the Air Canada Centre.

At least on their own material.

Never mind that falsetto-voiced and fiercely talented guitarist John Frusciante frequently stole the show and stunned the crowd of 14,000 when he took over lead vocals on such wide-ranging covers as Donna Summer's disco anthem I Feel Love and Alice Cooper's classic rock classic I'm 18.

Enough said.

The California foursome officially launched their hour-and-45-minute performance with By The Way from their excellent 2002 album of the same name.

Frontman Anthony Kiedis was missing-in-action during what became an opening instrumental jam by Frusciante, bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith.

By The Way was followed by Scar Tissue from the Peppers' 1999's monster comeback disc, Californication, but the veteran punk-funk-rock outfit only struck musical gold by the third song, Around The World.

By then too, it appeared their large video screen had finally begun to work -- it eventually showed off its ability to separate into four pieces -- and the band managed to corral their disjointed energy into one cohesive unit.

Kiedis, in particular, was prone to jumping jacks or twirling movements dressed in a pair of track pants that had the word 'MARS' printed on his backside (hey, at least it wasn't 'SARS') -- and frequently left the stage.

His absence often meant the attention shifted over to the long-haired Frusciante, who commanded gorgeous sounds out of his guitar whether it was on now established hits like Around The World, Californication and Other Side or new tunes The Zephyer Song, Universally Speaking and Warm Tape (the latter on which he also played keyboards).

HANDSTAND

The crowd, who began to mosh almost immediately, didn't really seem to care that the usually reliable Keidis wasn't fully at the top of his game despite showing off some tremendous dance moves.

Where does he get his energy?

At least Kiedis fully rallied by the time of the set-ending anthem, Give It Away. But did we really need a drum solo to start off the encore, complete with Flea doing a walking handstand?

Thankfully, the crowd-pleaser Under The Bridge followed, and by this time Kiedis had wrapped a strapless, pink lace bra, that had been thrown up on stage, around his lower half.

Meanwhile, the Peppers, who have been making music for 20 years now, continue to show solid taste in music.

Opening last night were buzzed-about bands Queens Of The Stone Age -- who played a show at Lee's with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) behind the drum kit last June -- and The Mars Volta (ex-At The Drive-In singer Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez), who release their first proper LP, De-loused In The Comatorium, this summer. (More on the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

JAM! Rating: 3.5 out of 5