When the venerable, one-day rock 'n' roll package known as Edgefest rolled into the Molson Amphitheatre late Saturday afternoon, it marked the event's 20th anniversary, making this the longest continually running pop music festival in the country's history.

In theory, that's a lot of edgy. By edgy, of course, we refer to a variation of the phrase "cutting edge," implying a certain sense of musical progressivism or inventiveness. And over the years, the festival has served as an introductory forum for lots of acts that have justifiably fit the definition.

THE REALITY

The reality, though, was that this year's event was about as edgy as a new brown sofa from IKEA. This event did not shift into overdrive until Raine Maida and Our Lady Peace broke into its best known songs from nineties albums Naveed and Clumsy.

Before that, there was lots of decent enough music, but not much that made you want to sit up and scribble band names on bits of paper. Montreal-born/Toronto-based indie rockers Mobile presented a set rich in guitar-driven, anthemic rockers that positioned the band somewhere between Deep Purple and U2.

The U.S.-Canadian musical collective Neverending White Lights (which features a kind of revolving door of musicians from not-very-well-known bands) was an odd mixture of emo sensitivity and Fame-era David Bowie. Very professional, very musical and quite appealing.

Next up was Victoria's quite hot dance-punk band Hot Hot Heat. Here, singer Steve Bays proved himself no student of geography (somehow positioning Toronto on the country's "east coast") but very much a student of history. How else to explain the musical references to eighties New Wave bands such as Elvis Costello and the Attractions, the Clash and the Smithereens?

Which left it to Coldplay shadowists Keane, and the greatest hits package from Our Lady Peace to round out the night.

There was a second stage (The Next Big Thing Stage), which purported to be edgier, but the mere set-up of the thing ruled out much of an experience. Wedged over to the left of the main stage between the washrooms and the water, only the nearest hundred or so fans could actually see anything.

NEXT TIME?