OTTAWA - Rob Thomas will probably consider a smaller venue the next time he rolls through Ottawa, whether it's solo or with his band.

The matchbox twenty frontman drew just 1,500 fans to Scotiabank Place for his solo show last night. Do you know what 1,500 people feels like in a hockey rink? Not so warm and cosy.

Unfilled, cavernous venue aside, I'm not one of those people who's going to pick on Thomas just because he can't sell concert tickets or it's the thing to do among music reviewers. I know it's almost expected to carve up a singer/songwriter who's got such a wide appeal, who, last night's attendance aside, manages to tap into the mainstream in a major way.

Thomas wrote most of the songs for a group that has sold 20 million records. His album, ... Something To Be, debuted at No. 1 and has produced a predictable amount of hits. It's not cool to like him.

But I do. And matchbox twenty even. There, I'm not afraid to say it. His show last night didn't break any ground or even get close to any cutting edges. It was slightly bland. Mostly nice. Is that so terrible?

As promised, Thomas played many of the tunes off ... Something to Be, including the current radio hit Ever the Same and the one that won't seem to go away to make room for it, Lonely No More.

When he dipped back into matchbox's three-CD catalogue, also as promised, the songs were stripped down or reworked in such a way they didn't seem five or 10 years old.

I particularly liked the sweet and slow way a keys-playing Thomas and his band trimmed the big rock sound of 3 A.M. off the band's debut CD, 1996's Yourself or Someone Like You.

Smooth, Thomas' monster, Grammy-winning 1999 hit with Carlos Santana, didn't fare so well with the slow treatment.

Many of the females who showed up last night clearly appreciate the 34-year-old New Yorker for more than his songwriting skills.

"Forward people here," he said shyly at one point, after they'd yelled another come-on.

Thomas endeared himself to the female crowd further by playing Not Just a Woman, a tune about "all of the good ones." It's a song he included on a second solo CD, dubbed Something More and sold exclusively at Target stores in the U.S. Thomas explained all he had to do to get the album made was make a Target commercial, one which turned out to be disturbing in that it featured his floating, disembodied head.

"Now, 'cause you don't have a Target, you have my permission to run to the Internet and download it," he told the crowd.

I didn't even mind his lacklustre cover of David Bowie's Let's Dance.

I had to give Thomas props for showing up despite the anemic ticket sales. Just a laid-back night, roughly 90-minutes of unobjectionable music for a few faithful fans.

California native Anna Nalick proved a fun opening act, undaunted as she played to a gathering crowd. Nalick knows a little something about heavy radio play herself -- she hit it with Breathe off her debut album, Wreck of the Day.

She was a worthy addition later, too, joining Thomas on his encore for a beautiful acoustic duet on matchbox's breakthrough hit, Push.