Nickelback concert saying you're going is like kicking a sack of puppies.
People are going to hate you for it.
But I have been converted.
To make any friends I'm not likely by saying the Canadian supergroup absolutely, totally, rocked out at the Boondall Entertainment Centre last night.
In fact, I might lose some.
But Nickelback know what their fans want and make no apologies for it.
This was NASCAR turned into a rock concert. There were fireworks. There were girls in bikinis on big screens. There were mullets. There were more fireworks. At one point, no fewer than six band roadies armed with cannons fired Nickelback t-shirts into the crowd while throwing out cups of beer.
The tone for this extravaganza of machismo was set early when, following an eardrum busting crack of fireworks, the band opened with the sexy, or some might say grossly offensive, pumping rock of Something in Your Mouth.
This was followed by the mellower Because of You before one of Nickelback's big hits, Photograph ("Look at this photograph..."), unsurprisingly a crowd favourite.
Next Figured You Out ("I like your pants around your feet") was dedicated to the ladies who, despite what anyone may think, seemed to love the dirty lyrics, with the majority of female fans rocking out to Chad Kroeger's chainsaw voice.
Sufficiently rested by a string of slower paced songs, the guys then launched into their 2006 hit country rock Rockstar ("Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar") and then moved into the hard rocking Sad But True, Burn It To The Ground and a monster drum solo which saw drummer Daniel Adair genuinely looking in pain after 10 minutes solid playing.
Finally the band closed with a collection of crowd favourites, including How You Remind Me followed by a reverse to the 2002 hit Too Bad ending with an encore of 2003's Someday and 2008's Animals.
Of course it couldn't be over without another gigantic fireworks and flame display with what looked like a New Year's Eve collection detonated all at once.
I'm surprised Boondall stayed standing.
Simply put Nickelback were performers, absolute stand out performers, engaging the crowd in showy gestures like the call and response ("We say Nickel, you say Back!") and talking extensively with the audience, weaving a narrative through their performance.
It made everyone, even those of us who'd arrived feeling dubious, feel like a diehard fan
It was stadium rock at its absolute best. Anyone who has ever watched a hair metal video clip (Poison, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses) would love the excess, the bravado, the noise. And let's not forget the fireworks.
People are going to hate you for it.
But I have been converted.
To make any friends I'm not likely by saying the Canadian supergroup absolutely, totally, rocked out at the Boondall Entertainment Centre last night.
In fact, I might lose some.
But Nickelback know what their fans want and make no apologies for it.
This was NASCAR turned into a rock concert. There were fireworks. There were girls in bikinis on big screens. There were mullets. There were more fireworks. At one point, no fewer than six band roadies armed with cannons fired Nickelback t-shirts into the crowd while throwing out cups of beer.
The tone for this extravaganza of machismo was set early when, following an eardrum busting crack of fireworks, the band opened with the sexy, or some might say grossly offensive, pumping rock of Something in Your Mouth.
This was followed by the mellower Because of You before one of Nickelback's big hits, Photograph ("Look at this photograph..."), unsurprisingly a crowd favourite.
Next Figured You Out ("I like your pants around your feet") was dedicated to the ladies who, despite what anyone may think, seemed to love the dirty lyrics, with the majority of female fans rocking out to Chad Kroeger's chainsaw voice.
Sufficiently rested by a string of slower paced songs, the guys then launched into their 2006 hit country rock Rockstar ("Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar") and then moved into the hard rocking Sad But True, Burn It To The Ground and a monster drum solo which saw drummer Daniel Adair genuinely looking in pain after 10 minutes solid playing.
Finally the band closed with a collection of crowd favourites, including How You Remind Me followed by a reverse to the 2002 hit Too Bad ending with an encore of 2003's Someday and 2008's Animals.
Of course it couldn't be over without another gigantic fireworks and flame display with what looked like a New Year's Eve collection detonated all at once.
I'm surprised Boondall stayed standing.
Simply put Nickelback were performers, absolute stand out performers, engaging the crowd in showy gestures like the call and response ("We say Nickel, you say Back!") and talking extensively with the audience, weaving a narrative through their performance.
It made everyone, even those of us who'd arrived feeling dubious, feel like a diehard fan
It was stadium rock at its absolute best. Anyone who has ever watched a hair metal video clip (Poison, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses) would love the excess, the bravado, the noise. And let's not forget the fireworks.
