There are two ways of looking -- and you couldn't help but look -- at the gigantic banner bearing the words Hanes Hosiery that covered the entire Molson Amphitheatre stage last night prior to the star attraction making it her playground.

One, it was a crass and garish display of corporate culture's invasion of pop culture.

Two, it was worth putting up with 'cause you knew Hanes' famous spokesperson -- Tina Turner -- would help you forget it was there in the first place.

Two songs into her two-hour long concert in front of a capacity crowd of 16,000, the unsightly banner became a memory.

Sporting a glittering black and silver mini, black pumps and, natch, Hanes hosiery that enveloped those awesome legs, the 57-year-old soul survivor kicked things off withWhatever You Want and segued into the hard-driving Do What You Do, from her '96 Wildest Dreams album.

And just when you thought, 'Here we go, she's gonna trot out all the jams from her latest CD,' Tina T said, "I'm gonna do a very old one recorded in 1966."

So, there she was working it out on stage singing River Deep, Mountain High while footage of her singing the same song 31 years back -- and expending as much energy as she was last night -- played on a massive screen.

It was one of several moments in a high octane sound and light show that gave us time to contemplate the phenomenon on stage.

And this is it: Nearly 40 years after she hit her first stage, Turner still gives electrifying shows, refuses to become a parody of herself, and oozes sexuality without resorting to sleaze.

Watch her shimmy gracefully along the length of the stage while singing In Your Wildest Dreams, slipping into your wildest dreams while slow-stepping towards you during GoldenEye in a sexy black mini, or delighting with her ecstatic shrieks, and you get the drift.

Then there are her playful ways.

"I'm gonna do something I don't normally do on stage."

Pause.

"I don't mean to disappoint but I'm simply gonna sit down and sing."

The four-song acoustic rave-up included her version of Al Green's Let's Stay Together, I Can't Stand The Rain, featuring some funky, jump-piano playing, and the Motown-flavored Givin' It Up For Your Love.

Nothing can keep a good woman down and no sooner had Turner dispensed with the tunes that forced her to sit -- of course she danced while she sat! -- than she and her seven-piece band ripped into the crunching You Better Be Good To Me.

Simply The Best followed and it was here that we got to give back some of the love she's been dishing out so generously over the decades.

"Simply the best, better than the rest," go the lyrics to the song.

Sixteen thousand people sang with Tina T and 16,000 people meant every word.

SUN RATING 5 OUT OF 5