Our Lady Peace, with Ash and greenwheel

Though it has nothing much to do with appealing to fans and everything to do with smart marketing, the summer of 2002 will go down in history as the time when a slew of big-venue acts played the Verizon. The latest is Canada's Our Lady Peace, hot on the concert trail after releasing its latest CD, Gravity. As hinted in the title, vocalist and songwriter Raine Maida came down to earth and went for a more stripped-down approach (translation: sought more radio hits) with this release, in marked contrast to last year's critically acclaimed concept album, Spiritual Machines. Machines sold a gazillion copies in Canada but didn't fare as well in the States. While Gravity can't compare with Machines,it does have its moments, such as when Maida slips in lyrics that contrast a teenager's trivial pursuits with a cancer diagnosis. It will be interesting to see whether the band throws caution to the wind and drops a few tracks from Machines into the set list. Relatively obscure as they are, they outmuscle even the massive radio hits like "Clumsy" and "Starseed."