THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Ten years later, White Lies has since released three highly enjoyable CDs, learned to smile and dress with a bit more flair; also, the act signed onto a major record label and dropped Friends ( BMG Records ) last October. The band also invaded Lincoln Hall on Feb. 6 for a sold-out show as part of its first U.S. tour in three years.

Friends is another helping of what White Lies has been doing all these years, which is to crack a sly musical in joke. ( Years ago, Brown said in an interview, "White Lies are really quite dark; they protect unsettling truths." ) The recipe calls for complex songs about doubt, confusion, conflict, faith, guilt and depression wrapped in shimmering synth lines, cushy pop trappings and an abundance of solid hooks. What you get is sweet, haunted hunk McVeigh singing his heart out with none of the teeth-gnashing, edge, tension or bite that the lyrics demand.

With McVeigh's radio-friendly voice front and center, "Summer Didn't Mean A Thing," "Take it Out On Me" and "Hold Back Your Love" swirl and enchant rather than depress. The kicker here is "Is My Love Enough?," which has the strongest hook on the record and lets the band lose themselves. ( Bryan Ferry would bleed for a song this good. ) For all his polite detachment, McVeigh sounds exasperated as he croons, "No one plans for an accident" while the song builds, leading to a meltdown of epic proportions. By the finish, he stands stranded in a torrent of guitar and synth washes yelping, "Tell me is this love enough/I don't know what to feel anymore!!!!" Typically, angst and suffering never sounded so alluring, danceable or fun.

At Lincoln Hall, all this misery turned into something quite unexpected with openers Voww misleading the SRO crowd with wave after wave of molten gothic synths and guitar flourishes. The clue that none of this was as heavy as it appeared was telegraphed in the infectious dance beats and bandmates RIZZ ( on keyboards )and MATT ( vocals/guitar )'s cheeky humor.

Once White Lies got onstage, the house went up for grabs as the band tore through older favorites ( "Getting Even," "To Lose My Life," "Death," and "Unfinished Business" ) and hearty helpings of Friends ( "Take it Out On Me," "Hold Back Your Love," "Morning in L.A." ) with chunks of sheer ecstasy. ( As expected ,this version of "Is My Love Enough?" blew the roof off the place, while "Big TV," "There Goes Our Love," and "Bigger than Us" came damn close. ) The crowd felt a joyful delirium as they danced and waved its arms the entire set. Although he spent the night singing about heartache and pain, McVeigh had a big goofy smile plastered on his face the whole time.

Heads up: Two of my favorites have combined forces, with glam-psychedelic rockers The Gold Web headlining the next Glitter Creeps on Feb. 15. Queer faves Meat Wave host a CD release show for the upcoming The Incessant with DIY pals Melk Belly on Feb. 25. Both shows are at The Empty Bottle.

Tickets are already on sale for Wilson-Phillips ( March 19 ), queer punker Bob Mould ( April 21 ) and the queer-flavored Magnetic Fields ( April 19-20 ) at Thalia Hall. Dates have been announced for some of the upcoming shows at Ravinia, including Blondie, Garbage and X ( "The Rage and Rapture Tour on July 22 ), John Legend ( June 10 ) and Diana Krall ( June 28 ).