Friday
Jun082012
Nickelback In Houston -- Live Review
Friday, June 8, 2012 at 12:01AM 
At the tail end of my U.S. trip, I flew in to Houston to see Nickelback. I bought a VIP ticket, which meant early entry, so I could get to the barrier. When I posted on my Facebook about going to Rock on the Range, lots of people were positive. When I mentioned Nickelback, they said "Who are you, and what did you do with Christian?" More on this later.
The opening band was My Darkest Days and they were pretty good. Second up was Skillet, perhaps the second worst live band I have seen (after Down). Bush were OK, although I did not know their songs.
Finally, it was time for Nickelback. Their stage show is immense. They have tons of pyro, moving walkways on the sides of the stage, and a big round stage that they go up in over the crowd for four songs, which rotates. They played for 90 minutes and although I have all their CDs, I was still surprised at how many songs I knew. Although I've been to a lot of shows, I can't think of one that had as many flames, screens, and other effects. I'm sure their detractors would say this is to hide the lack of substance, but I'd say it's in keeping with who they are, which is a really good arena rock band.
I was trying to work out why it is that people hate them so much. When challenged, a lot of the people on my Facebook page admitted they have never even heard them. In the show, some guy was even abusing singer Chad Kroeger from the seats. Why even go to a show you hate? Looking around me, I saw a lot more girls than I would expect to see near the barrier of a show. And then I realised: Nickelback are the Poison of their age! They play good, fun arena rock. They are good at what they do. They are very entertaining and certainly slick. Girls like them. Therefore, the guys hate them without even listening in. But, there's a twist. Poison continued to do well on summer tours until Bret Michaels decided to run their integrity in to the ground with Rock of Love. I wonder if this bodes well for the future of Nickelback? Certainly, I would see them again in a heartbeat. They put on a great, fun show, and I had a great evening with them. And yes, I got right to the very front.
Reader Comments (36)
That said, I am not sure you want to hang your opinion on juvenile lyrics. Plenty of metal bands--glam and otherwise--dabble in the fine art of youthful cheese . . . or angry whining or bravado and hyperbole as a stand-in for masculine virility. But I digress . . .
Point in fact, a lot of what people like about metal references their youth, or that sort of attitude that comes and goes with it. Throw a dart at your collection (if isn't firmly entombed in your computer) and you will likely hit an album or tape or CD by a band you love with some rather classy lyrics.
Do you want to "Lick It Up," boys? Or do you prefer someone to go "Smooth Up in Ya'," ladies? And PETA is never going to use "Giving the Dog a Bone" in a campaign. Sure, there are exceptions. Bon Jovi, before he had aches and pains, was clearly discussing the trials and tribulations of relationships in "In and Out of Love." He was, right? And that is just the juvenile as it relates to sex.
On the Road to Rock (that one is for you Metalboy!) there are plenty of cringe-inducing lyrics. But we like them just the same.
While I'm certainly no Chad Kroeger fan, I do like a number of Nickelback songs. They write good, catchy, straight-ahead rock, as evidenced by the millions of records that they sell. And they do the arena rock thing to perfection.
I think a lot of the hate towards them is because of their lyrics. They're misogynistic, juvenile, and lack any sort of subtlety - in fact, some of their songs are almost embarrassing to listen to because of this.
But as Him said, singing about sex, drugs & booze is not a rarity in rock, and especially not for glam bands. I actually think they would have fit right in during the 80's.
NICKELBACK put on an awesome show I think as life goes these guys came out at a time where I was awayfrom home alot and the young guys that worked for me were into this type of music so I got drug into Nickelback kicking and screaming but I was converted. I loved the part where they went to the middle of the arena and played in the round suspeneded from the ceiling. It was my daughters first concert and she was blown away.
They Pyro The Lights and the music made for a great family night for my Wife, Daughter and I...The moving walkways were a suprise as well.. Dropped D tuning can get old but they manage to put some character in it.. Glad you enjoyed it..
It is said best that these guys are the new Poison, Def Leppard, Crue, etc, etc,... Bands that cross all ages and gender. Could I do without the constant message ballads that Chad Kroeger seems to write over and over ? Well yes.... BUT the songs they play when they just want to rock are pretty damn good.
I have a friend who said it best ~ ITS ASS ROCK !! It makes the women shake their ass and if girls sing along to it, then its not cool for dudes to do the same.
There is a reason a band like this just tours the arenas...its because they are good.
Listen to Where ? (from Curb), Breathe (from State), Money Bought (from Silver Side Up), Figured You Out (from Long Road), Side of a Bullet (from All The Right Reasons), Burn It To The Ground (Dark Horse), Midnight Queen (Here & Now).... and I'll think you will get what I'm trying to say and this is just a small sampling of their entire catalog.
My two cents.
Jerry Cantrell and Dimebag liked them so take that for what it;s worth. What I do like about them is that they do not pretend to be anything but an arena rock band. They do have a sense a humor about themselves. You can find several stories about bands saying stuff about them on Twitter and they play it off. That and the video they made about the halftime show at Thanksgiving.
1. They're Canadian. I can't think of a single Canadian rock band I listen to. Triumph may be the closest. Are the Killer Dwarfs Canadian?
2. Chad Krueger has(had) poodle hair. They don't look like rock stars and certainly do not have rock personalities.
3. Every song they write ends up on the radio. Maybe this isn't a bad thing, but they could write a song about waiting in line at the DMV and it would get played on the radio.
4. All the crappy spawn bands. Theory of a Deadman, Shinedown, Hinder, etc.
5. The songs have too much polish. I want my rock music to be gritty and smell like sex and skunky beer.
6. It just seems like they try too hard. I don't care how great their sense of humor. If you aren't naturally cool, then tour with Weezer.
Otherwise Nicklehack is boring NERDROCK to worried about their profile.
And any comparison to Poison is absurd. Poison is monumental. Nickleshite are bellhops.
Well, Christian, at least you and I agree on some bands:
AC/DC, Accept, The Angels and Stryper. Am I forgetting anybody?
Johnny Mac -- Whoa! I ain't from Canada but I sure can tell ya, there are a lot of great bands from there, just not Nicklechump. And certainly not RUSH. The Great Canadian Bands are: Kick Axe (right on, Him), Killer Dwarfs (good call, Johnny Mac), Ana Black (these guys ruled the L.A. Strip in the Early 90's and even had a preproduction deal with Sony -- Check out "Sex Ride Suicide" -- Now that's frickin' ROCK AND ROLL!!!), Adrenalin, Alias, Barely Legal, Brighton Rock, Crystal Pistol, Danko Jones, Dirty Rhythm, Distant Cry, Doc Trinket, Double Dealer, Fury, Harem Scarem, Harlots Webb, Helix, The Hitmen, Honeymoon Suite, Hooker, Jester, Krystal, Paul Laine (Check out the Danger Danger album, "Cockroach". Laine sings lead on it), T.O. Joker, Lorraine (Pure L.A.), May Run, Moxy, Parlor Trixx, Pokerface, Quota, Raw Trixx, Rampage, Reckless, Reckless Youth (Holy Grail alert), Pretty Boy Floyd (Canada), Renegade, Rockhead, Rockupuncture, Rude, Saints & Sinners (Holy Grail!), Seventh Son, Sharp Edges, J.T. Shelter, Simon Says (Holy Grail!), Slam Savvy, Slash Puppet (Killers), CJ Sleez, Slick Kitty, Slik Toxic, Chrissy Steele, Lee Aaron, Gypsy Rose, Steppenwolf (huh-uh-uh-lo-oh!), Stiletto, Surrender, Sven Gali, Syre, Teaze, Tongue N Groove, Top Johnny, Pat Travers, Vendetta, Von Groove, Winter Rose, Wrabit, Young Gun.
A current band that many here should like. Saw them in Pittsburgh about a week ago. I've seen them close to 10 times and they never disappoint.
DIEMONDS - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OPGjqDpkxs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9kINGuPAC0
Metalboy - I have 3300 CDs, I'd be astounded if those are the only bands you and I agree on. I see a few in your list of Canadian bands :-)
Amusingly, I would agree that Animals is their best song. I just don't think it's a TON different from a lot of the other ones.
I am always amazed about CERTAIN people on here who cannot blow past the usual shite they beat the hell out of year after year and won't ever venture beyond their comfort zone to explore a list like the one I have above. Boys, get off the head of the pin you continuously insist on dancing on.
Explore the list (and that's just Canada) on YouTube, where most of them have at least audio samples. Most of the bands are comparable to many of our fave acts (or better!), like I told ya a thousand times! Also hit heavyharmonies.com to unearth all of the gold there that will set you free. Or just keep listening to your same old crap in perpetuity. It's up to you, clowns!