Last Tuesday night, the Fleet Center opened its doors to Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies (BNL). Although most people go to a rock concert expecting a mosh-pit and head-banging, Barenaked Ladies thrills the crowd with humor, improvisational rapping, and its self proclaimed "nerd rock." Even though the Fleet Center was not totally full, the fans in attendance got a comedy show and a concert all in one amazing night.Opened up by the very unimpressive Australian singer, Butterfly Boucher, the night really got started when Gavin DeGraw hit the stage. Although overshadowed by the headliner, DeGraw was definitely a crowd pleaser as he covered "Proud Mary" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" to the delight of the female fans in the audience. Although relatively unknown, it seems like DeGraw, with his boyish good looks, and willingness to get a little funky with his music may make him a success in the not-so-distant future. And his ability to be Billy Joel on the piano and then Eric Clapton on the guitar will help him win over many different audiences.

After the opening acts left the stage, a piece of video-game animation from a Web site called redvsblue.com introduced BNL to the Boston crowd. These videos kept many fans entertained, especially those stuck in the balcony, even when they couldn't see the group up close.

Barenaked Ladies did not just play songs; they put on a show throughout the entire night. Whether it was out-of-the-blue improvisational rapping about their Canadian homeland, trivia contests with a stage crew member going against one lucky audience member, or riding onto the stage on a miniature living-room set, the band members made it into a performance. The most impressive of these was a complex dance involving shopping carts, during their song "Shopping," which ended with a really crazy, synchronized swimming-esque routine. The tag-team combination of vocal and guitar from both Steven Page and Ed Robertson could only be described as Abbott and Costello plus Sonny and Cher.

And when they actually got to singing, the boys rocked the audience. They mixed in some of their old stuff with songs from their newest album, Everything for Everyone, and experimented a little with Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Buster Pointdexter's "Hot, Hot, Hot." They even used a Boston accent when Robertson called himself "wicked re-tah-ded." BNL showed its musical talents with songs like "It's All Been Done." They cranked out old hits like "Pinch Me." And with past hit "One Week" they had all the band members stand around one microphone, harmonizing the song to the music of an electric mandolin, which gave a new twist on old favorite. Barenaked Ladies also showed their "nerd rock" chops as they tackled issues such as male fear of commitment in "Maybe Kate."

Although the music got a little slow and heavy on their newest album at times, they always made sure to mix it up. One of the slowest and most serious parts of the show was a song called "War on Drugs" prefaced by Steven Page's talk about the suicide rate in Toronto and pleading with the crowd to "help out a fellow friend." Another serious moment occured when Page gave a monologue on 9/11, announcing the Guster/BNL benefit coming to Lowell, Mass. in April.

But BNL would never leave the stage in such a somber mood. After getting the crowd roused with another one of their video-game animations, the Ladies went back to one of their first songs, "The Old Apartment." The Barenaked Ladies also played "Testing 1,2,3," a hit off their new album that goes through a myriad of issues, from nostalgia, to being in a rock & roll band, to seeing your old girlfriend with a new guy.

During the first encore, BNL left the audience swaying to one of the crowd-favorites, "Brian Wilson," an acoustic song about the Beach Boys singer. The second encore featured two BNL songs that they cannot do a concert without. "If I Had a Million Dollars" started off the encore as fans belted along to the familiar lyrics (heard by all New Yorkers for the past couple of years on the New York Lotto commercials). And if that wasn't enough, the crowd was then serenaded with "What a Good Boy." Altogether, it was an enjoyable night in Boston as the "Ladies" from Canada rocked the Fleet Center.