The scene out in Lockport for these free shows is cool, first off. The place is packed, the general vibe is friendly, and the whole thing seems to be about the music.

That’s nice.

How good is the music? Friday’s show suggested that the upper echelon of alternative music felt quite at home out in Lockport. A massive crowd congregated, and during Our Lady Peace’s set, seemed to have been celebrating a sort of homecoming. OLP has played this same venue previously, and seemes to have garnered some serious fans in the process.

That said, the evening — at least on a musical level — belonged to opener Jimmy Gnecco and Ours. Why the band never broke back when it first started out — the latter ’90s, to be exact — remaines a mystery. Frontman and songwriter Gnecco is a ridiculous talent. He sings like a cross between Jeff Buckley, Freddie Mercury, and Trent Reznor. Gnecco was simply unreal throughout Friday’s set; most of the gig felt like a lesson in everything one might strive toward, vocalwise, as a rock singer.

The crowd seemed largely baffled by Gnecco, who has released several major-label albums with Ours, and is poised to release the first under his own name on July 20. His singing was so uniformly excellent, so stunningly ambitious in its range, and so flawlessly executed, that Joe Public who showed up to see Our Lady Peace might be excused for being flabbergasted. It seems clear, however, that those same folks are unlikely to wake up tomorrow and casually Google the name “Ours.” As they should.

Gnecco is, it must be said, ridiculous. His vocal range runs from low tenor to the upper reaches of soprano, and often he will construct a vocal line that manages to incorporate that full range within a single phrase. He is a virtuoso, a rocker, and a slightly Gothlike dude all at once. Hello, “Twilight” fans! This man looks like a member of the undead and sings like someone who made some strange deal with the devil.

Early on, “Until Nothing Matters” gave the assembled a hint of what was to come. “Ran Away to Tell the World” gave a fair picture of what is to come on Gnecco’s forthcoming album. “The Heart” — which is the title track from that record — blended U2’s “One” with Buckley’s “Last Goodbye” without batting an eyelash. Simply incredible.

The crowd was there for Our Lady Peace, however, and they got their money’s worth from Raine Maida and Co.

This group has formed a relationship with this Lockport audience over the past three years. In fact, the band set attendance records for a free Western New York show last year, by assembling what promoters purport to be a crowd in the area of 25,000.

No telling how many showed up on Friday, but those who did came armed and ready. These folks were familiar with the OLP catalog, seemed to love frontman Maida like a New Yorker loves Derek Jeter, and clamored for more when the band offered a teaser or two from its biggest album, “Clumsy.”

The title tune, in fact, was probably a highlight for the barely post-grunge band.

The OLP sound has always offered a blend of straight-up heavy alternative, pop and a Dash of the avant-garde. Maida is the man, it would seem, who pushes all proceedings toward the pop end of the spectrum.

OLP’s ability to blend all of this into a convincing guitar-rock stew remains impeccable. This is a band that can bring the fire; its music has managed to transcend its immediate mileau.

That’s a big deal.

Concert Review

Our Lady Peace

With Jimmy Gnecco. Friday night in the Molson Canal Concert Series, Ulrich City Centre, Lockport.