It’s not unheard of for rock stars to get political, but we don’t really have a grand tradition of that sort of thing here at home. Who knows if Nelly Furtado supports the Liberals, or if Sarah McLachlan votes for the Green Party?

With that in mind, you gotta hand it to the Barenaked Ladies for sticking their necks out by throwing a big coming-out party for NDP leadership hopeful Jack Layton last Wednesday at the Phoenix. Layton just happens to be BNL frontman Steven Page’s city councillor, and Page took it upon himself to organize a show of support for the socially progressive politician. Factor in the NDP’s new “one member, one vote” system, and the Rock for Layton concert proved the perfect way to sign up a raft of fresh new NDP members, with the party membership fee serving as the “ticket price” for the show.

With a solid lineup of left-leaning talent, including former Moxy Fruvous member Jian Ghomeshi, rising soprano Patricia O’Callaghan, the Rheostatics’ Tim Vesley, Chris Brown, and BNL themselves, Page had no trouble drawing a packed house of 1,200.

Whether all these NDP newbies just wanted a ticket to the hot draw in town is debatable, but if a good chunk of them actually get out to vote for Layton, it certainly could help him in his quest to be the next leader of the NDP.

Aside from some occasional speechifying about Jack, the concert was mostly about the music—Page put together a smart bill of acts that worked well together while being eclectic enough to sustain the audience’s attention. Various members of the Barenaked Ladies acted as a sort of house band for all the acts, jamming along with the enthusiasm of a teenage garage band.

CBC host Ghomeshi kicked things off with his wry politically-charged tunes, including his song “Quebec City,” about the protests at the Summit of the Americas last year. Brown proved he is one of the country’s best songwriters, managing to pull off an affecting, soulful set even without partner Kate Fenner. O’Callaghan’s star continues to rise, her pure, classical “popera” vocals cutting through the din. Tim Vesely contributed the Rheos’ anti-Tory anthem “Bad Time to be Poor” and introduced a new addition to the canon with “Save Our Schools.”

But it was hometown heroes Barenaked Ladies everyone had come to see, and they didn’t disappoint, serving up two sets of their greatest hits, from “Jane” straight through to “If I Had $1,000,000.” It was the band’s first visit back to the Phoenix since 1991, something that was clearly evident in the way singer Page belted through every song as if he were singing at the Molson Amphitheatre. But this is a band that has just as much fun onstage as their audience does watching them, a lesson far too many other local bands should learn.

It’s fitting that these Toronto music veterans should throw a concert for Layton—youthful, telegenic, and rather hip, he is the rock star candidate, after all.

As Page noted, “We live in a great city with a wonderful music community… and it’s our job to introduce (Layton) to the rest of the country.”