Knocking Nickelback has become a sport for some critics. For a band that sits comfortably musically between Bryan Adams to the right and Metallica to the left and is fairly aligned soundwise with Bon Jovi and Foo Fighters Nickelback knockers invariably have no valid back-up to their argument.
Nickelback tick all the boxes for what is a credible rock band. They write their own songs, they perform their own music, they produce their own records and they have 10s of millions of sales from millions of fans. Nickelback is one of the most successful bands on the planet. They are as real a rock band as they come. Yet the cooler element of the industry still finds something to whine about.
Live Nickelback is simply a good time rock show. Chad Kroeger comes across as that loudish bloke from your party who tells a few gags and downs a few beers. Nickelback are that soundtrack you will hear at your average suburban Barbie when the neighbours are over. For the critics hell-bent of dissecting a reason why Nickelback shouldn’t even be, move on, there is nothing to see here.
The Nickelback show is just entertainment. You don’t go to a Nickelback show to discover the secrets of the universe but you will uncover a 20 year body of work that now plays as a greatest hits set.
The fans know all the sounds at a Nickelback show and to shake up the crowd they throw in a few covers to acknowledge their influences and contemporaries. The riff from Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’, the audience sing-along to Eagles ‘Hotel California’, the honorable tribute to Led Zep with ‘Moby Dick’ and the Foo Fighters ‘Everlong’ demonstrates a band comfortable with its position.
There is an element to light-hearted schoolboy humour to Nickelback. Sure they have songs with lyrics like ‘you look so much cuter with something in your mouth’ and ‘I like your pants around your feet’ but hey AC/DC sing about “big balls’, ‘hard as a rock’, ‘the jack’ and prostitutes.
By some bizarre logic, people who do not like Nickelback do not want people who do to like them either.
“Judging a band doesn’t define who they are, it defines who you are”. Anon
Nickelback, Melbourne, May 15, 2015 SETLIST
Million Miles An Hour (from No Fixed Address, 2014)
Something In Your Mouth (from Dark Horse, 2008)
Photograph (from All The Right Reasons, 2005) (no 3, ARIA)
Hero (from Spider-Man soundtrack, 2002)
Gotta Be Somebody (from Dark Horse, 2008) (no 14, ARIA)
Far Away (from All The Right Reasons, 2005) (no 2, ARIA)
Edge Of A Revolution (from No Fixed Address, 2014) (no 60, ARIA)
Master of Puppets/Walk (Metallica cover)
Too Bad (from Silver Side Up, 2001) (no 56, ARIA)
Animals (from All The Right Reasons, 2005) (no 27, ARIA)
Moby Dick (Led Zeppelin cover)
She Keeps Me Up (from No Fixed Address, 2014)
Hotel California (Eagles cover)
Rockstar (from All The Right Reasons, 2005)
When We Stand Out (from Here and Now, 2011)
Figured You Out (from The Long Road, 2003) (no 10, ARIA)
How You Remind Me (from Silver Side Up, 2001) (no 2, ARIA)
Everlong (Foo Fighters cover)
Burn It To The Ground (from Dark Horse, 2008)
Nickelback are touring Australia for Live Nation.
Nickelback remaining Australian dates
May 16, Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
May 18, Adelaide, Entertainment Centre
May 20, Brisbane, Entertainment Centre
May 22, Sydney, Allphones Arena
May 23, Newcastle, Entertainment Centre
May 26, Perth, Perth Arena
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