TORONTO - A Barenaked Ladies show is part concert, part stand-up comedy, so it's fitting that the band's singers cracked jokes Saturday night about the not-so-funny moments they overcame over the last few months.
  
Singer and guitarist Ed Robertson told the sold-out crowd at Toronto's Massey Hall that he felt a little neglected this summer and couldn't believe that his personal crisis was overshadowed by the turmoil of his bandmate's, Steven Page.

"I survived a ... plane crash and it barely made the news," Robertson said with faux incredulousness.

"(Everyone said), `Who cares, what's going on with Steve?"'

After enduring a year they describe as "tough" and "terrible" the Barenaked Ladies are back on stage and trying to cap off 2008 on a positive note, after a tumultuous few months that threatened the band's future.

Just two months after the May release of their children's album, "Snack Time," Page was arrested and charged in Fayetteville, N.Y., for alleged drug possession.

The image of Page's dishevelled mugshot was circulated around the world and the band decided to bow out of a Disney charity show and stay below the radar.

It was feared the charges could have limited the band's ability to tour internationally, but Page -- and his co-accused, his girlfriend and her roommate -- secured a deal that will result in their charges being dropped if they stay out of trouble for six months.

The band's second scare came in late August when Robertson crashed his float plane in a wooded area north of Bancroft, Ont. Luckily, he walked away unhurt along with three other passengers.

The Barenaked Ladies are now in the throes of mounting a mini comeback with a series of concerts and TV appearances, and Page told fans through his blog that he's "doing great," is feeling healthier after shedding 40 pounds.

He said he can look back at 2008 as a year with a lot of positive experiences among the really bad ones.

"Yes, it's been a terrible year for the band, and for me personally, but there have also been many things to be happy and grateful for," he wrote.

"Falling in love, a renewed sense of peace, the best health of my adult life, some amazing creative and artistic opportunities, and the chance for a renewed and fruitful relationship with my band, friends and loved ones."

The band scheduled six concerts over three days in Toronto and Ottawa -- with matinee shows in support of "Snack Time" and nighttime holiday-themed concerts -- to reconnect with their fans and get their musical careers back on track.

"We never had a chance to play many concerts on the kids' record, you know, we were busy this summer doing other things," drummer Tyler Stewart said coyly.

"We thought it'd be a good way to regroup after some time off."

Stewart said the band was looking forward to their "Sharon, Lois and Bram moment," and it seemed parents in Toronto didn't consider Page to be a bad influence on their little ones.

Massey Hall was packed with kids on Saturday for the first of two matinee shows in the city and children were dancing in the aisles to songs about pencil erasers, ninjas, and a town made entirely of vegetables.

The band got the kids all riled up by making a somewhat ironic joke -- given Page's run in with the law -- about the show being a chance for them to learn new swear words and "other naughty things to do."

The kids howled with excitement and their parents laughed too.

Although the band hasn't scheduled a full concert tour, they are all over the place these days.

They just finished recording their own version of the old "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song for TSN, Robertson is appearing on a Christmas special airing Tuesday on Bravo, and this past week they performed at a tree lighting ceremony in New York and on the "Live with Regis and Kelly" daytime TV show.

They're also booked for a New Year's Eve show in Detroit and for the third time, the Barenaked Ladies will perform with other Canadian bands on a "Ships and Dip" Caribbean cruise vacation in February.

"We were skeptical about it when we did our first one but it turned out so great that we're just kept doing them," said Stewart of the un-rock-n'-roll sounding idea.

They'll be joined on the "floating music festival" cruise by the likes of Sloan, Great Big Sea, the Weakerthans, the Mountain Goats and members of Kids in the Hall.

"Hey, Lynyrd Skynyrd does a cruise, and if it's good enough for Skynyrd, it's good enough for the Barenaked Ladies," Stewart joked.

The Barenaked Ladies play another set of matinee and evening shows in Toronto on Sunday, and in Ottawa on Dec. 13.