At nearly 2 decades together, Alberta’s Nickelback has the big arena concert down pat. Having seen them multiple times, there have been changes over the course of the tour but the core – catchy rock songs about drinking and sex and the camaraderie of the bandmates – remains the same. This is what drew a near sellout crowd once again to the Saddledome for the bands Feed The Machine tour September 26th.
Kicking the show off with the title track from their new album and the tours namesake, the show surprisingly only featured 2 songs from their current release. Instead of using the show to push the new album, the band – singer Chad Kroeger, bassist Mike Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Daniel Adair – put on a greatest hits show spanning their career since 2001’s Silver Side Up.
Photograph was an early sing along. Too Bad featured a tribute segment to the Tragically Hip interspersed, covering Blow At High Dough. Something In Your Mouth was a loud, aggressive song. It was hit after hit much to the delight of the crowd.
Nickelback has long been very audience friendly, whether shooting out t-shirts into the crowd or having on stage drinking contests. This tour featured the band bringing two fans onstage to sing Rockstar. While that aspect remains, the same there are noticeable changes in the act. The band once had a typical $20,000US pyro bill now features 0 explosions. Gone are gimmicks like a center stage that raises in the air. In some ways, they let the music do the talking but much like other bands that built a reputation on spectacle along with the music like Motley Crue, Kiss and Metallica – when you take that aspect out something feels missing.
While the show may be more stripped down, the energy level and showmanship remains. In no time it seemed like the homestretch of Animals, Figured You Out, and How You Remind Me were echoing through the Dome. Another successful Calgary show wrapped up with Gotta Be Somebody and Burn It To The Ground.
Nickelback tours have long featured a triple bill, bringing along major acts like Daughtry, Bush, and Live. Daughtry opened on early dates, but for the final stretch of the tour in Canada veterans Cheap Trick opened. The decision to have the band – which formed before any of Nickelback were born – was an odd one that resulted in a lot of empty seats. That didn’t stop the band - vocalist Robin Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson and touring drummer Daxx Nielsen – from putting on a strong performance.
American band Shaman’s Harvest kicked off the show at 6pm. The early start time meant that I missed their set but from all accounts they put on a solid set to kick off what amounted to a 4 hour evening of rock n roll.
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Contributor Jason Clevett |
Locale Calgary |
Person Nickelback |
Topic Concert Review |
