The Opera House in Toronto's East end is a beautiful place to see a concert. From it's Spanish piazza slate floor to the ornately carved awning that frames the stage, the architecture in this two floor former opera house is almost directly in conflict with the modern bands that tend to occupy it today. With techno beats playing over the loudspeakers to the candles glowing on the bars, an air of surrealism hung over those who gathered to see the Mission UK play their first Toronto show in almost twelve years.

Opener Jenifer McLaren (Nettwork Records) took to the stage late due to a broken dress zipper. Twisting and wraithing behind her vine draped keyboard (to keep lurking eyes from peeping up her skirt, she explained), McLaren gave an inspired if unoriginal performance. She may be best known at this point in time for being the female voice behind Bill Leeb's side project Delirium. And on her own, she may be best recognized for being armed with a strong pair of lungs and true musical talent. She does the angst-y girl with a piano routine very well and her voice spans the gauntlet from ethereal floating to more straight ahead bellowing that castigates the audience with vigor. Behind her vocal terrain, though, her songs wandered aimlessly. The combination of drifting piano lines and one-minute-here, one-minute-there singing often left the listener at a loss as to what her music was about. She was also hampered by a noisy crowd who did not expect an opening act and became restless as the clock moved later on a Sunday night. McLaren nonetheless gave an unfaltered performance that seethed talent without upstaging the headliner. Classy.

For a band that hasn't been together in over a decade, The Mission UK put on a show that puts the current run of nostalgia packages to shame. Especially when you consider that the Opera House was booked considerably less than capacity at a mere 150 heads. In a situation like this, it would have been easily understandable for the band to play the set list, collect their paycheck and leave. Luckily for the fans, this was not the case.

From the opening strands of the prelude Anniversary, the crowd was enthusiastic and began moving towards the stage. The Mission then triumphantly picked up their instruments and launched into 'Beyond the Pale'. Hair shorn short, lead vocalist Wayne Hussey, behind his hollow body guitar, gave no indication that the band had been on vacation so long. His voice was as good, if not better than anything that has ever been captured on record. From the get go, it was obvious The Mission were set on playing a show to remember.

Bass heavy songs like "Sacrilege" got the crowd dancing with it's pulsating rhythm, but it was on "Like a Child Again" and it's dynamic breaks where you realized just how tight this band is. If you looked close enough, you could catch guitarist Rob Holliday smiling at their precision through the many stops and starts. The Mission also introduced some new, more electronically oriented material that sounded perfectly at home with their older songs. Shedding his guitar for "It Never Rains", Wayne lanked upon his microphone intertwining himself with the audience while his drummer kept a hypnotic backbeat. His dead sexy voice was fleshed out by visceral movements, while the other bandmates provided the lilting backround vocals necessary to create the smoky atmosphere of this slower Mission song.

The lack of attendance made this a very intimate show. The banter between stage and audience was heartfelt and humourous. Confused as to whether Toronto was one of those French speaking Canadian cities (Canada having two official languages), Wayne chided the crowd for being lying bastards, and concluded that, indeed, he was in English territory. This being the last show of the North American tour as well, there were many introductions and thank yous of both the band and those more behind the scenes, such as their soundman. The Mission provided a sense of family to all who attended this show. Their unique way of bringing the audience into their world made it that much more enjoyable.

The Mission played most of the old favorites such as "Tower of Strength", "Deliverance", and "Garden of Delight" and then left the stage with audience cheering for more. After the obligatory wait, Wayne came out and began the encore. Just him on guitar, he played "Blood Brothers" with a surprising twist when Chris Isaak's somber hit "Wicked Game" found it's way into the chorus. It was the kind of juxtaposition where you didn't know whether it was a snide commentary or a heartfelt lament. Craig Adams then slipped on his bass and the rest of the band joined Wayne onstage for "Butterfly on a Wheel". It felt like the Mission was settled in to play all night. In fact they almost did. Their set was a rousing hour and a half, not too bad for a quiet Sunday and definitely more than what anybody had expected.