On Friday night, Mixfest X rocked the FleetCenter. This was the tenth version of Mix 98.5's annual radio concert. And, as in previous shows, they put out a very impressive lineup of pop-oriented bands with a non-offensive message. This year's show brought back usual MixFest mainstay Barenaked Ladies, as well as the recently reunited Duran Duran. New England natives Vertical Horizon led off the festivities. Exiting with crowd-favorite "Everything You Want," they got the slowly entering audience warmed up for the event. Although not totally sold out, the MixFest crowd that did show up was delayed by strictly enforced "no food and drink" rules for the concert.

Next up was Jason Mraz, less than 24 hours removed from his Brandeis performance. And, as the night before, he didn't disappoint with his songs, his energy or his plaid hat. Mraz ended his set with a cover of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful."

The next three sets could be dubbed "the estrogen section." Not only did it contain three prominent female artists, Michelle Branch, Dido, and Tori Amos, but it was surrounded by incessant Venus razor and other female-oriented Mix 98.5 commercials which started to elicit a groan from the crowd as they were shown repeatedly. But, while all three women sang very well, they failed to engage the audience in their performances.

Branch led off with some songs from her new CD, "Hotel Paper," in conjunction with some of her older songs.

British artist Dido followed, and while she sang well, especially on her crowd favorite "Thank You," she never left her stool. Also, by performing with only her guitarist, her set looked more like an acoustic caf than a concert. "Thank you Mix 98.5 for letting me get out of my cage," she said, reflecting on her lack of appearances lately.

Last up in the female section was Amos. Although a hit with the women in the crowd and sporting a very good voice, she too failed to engage the crowd, even with her cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Getting the crowd enthusiastic again was Train, introduced by guest host and crowd heartthrob Mark McGrath. Singing their three biggest songs, "Calling on Angels," "Meet Virginia" and "Drops of Jupiter," they got the crowd singing along. They excited the audience even more when they did a medley of Led Zeppelin/Bad Company songs, including "Whole Lotta Love," "Ramble On'" and "Feel Like Makin' Love".''

Keeping up the good mood was a rousing sing-along during the intermission of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."

Barenaked Ladies then came out and continued this good mood as they engaged the crowd with their very entertaining set. Although they were there to promote their upcoming CD, "Everything to Everyone," they still had time to add in a lot of other aspects to their performance. Lead singers Steven Page and mohawk-sporting Ed Robertson entertained the crowd with famous songs "Pinch Me," "If I Had a Million Dollars" and "One Week," while adding some flavor to the show. After Page revealed he had dreams about being guest host Mark McGrath, they covered Sugar Ray's "Fly." And, while singing "Another Postcard" (a song about chimpanzees) from their upcoming CD, they had a person in a chimp outfit run on the stage, bear hugging Page and tackling Robertson. Robertson then joked that, as a publicity stunt, a zookeeper had let a gorilla free in Boston to promote this song. "We wanted a chimpanzee," he quipped, "but we settled for a gorilla"(commenting on the Gorilla that escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo).

Recently reunited English band, Duran Duran was the eighth and final act. And although they were touted as the headliners for the night, the crowd filed out as they performed. This may have been due to the fact that - as they mentioned at the opening of their act - they haven't been together in 20 years. Asked one high school freshman to another sitting behind me at the show, "Who are these Duran guys?"

"I dunno," the other one answered, "But if they haven't been together in 20 years, they have to be about 65 by now."

So, while Duran Duran may have been lost to a relatively young crowd, the night was won by Barenaked Ladies and Train. Train never let down the audience, keeping their beat moving throughout their set, while Barenaked Ladies kept the crowd guessing with such things as on the spot raps and "The Chicken Dance." Six and a half hours after it started, MixFest X closed out a great night of music at the FleetCenter.