Though bad-mouthing Nickelback has been a popular activity for almost twenty years, we must give César back what is his: On the stage at the Videotron Center on a beautiful Monday night in early summer, the Canadian group remembered that he deserves it all the love shown to him by an enthusiastic crowd of around 11,000 at the first concert of the tour Get rolling.
• Also read: Beyond the Cruel Jokes: 5 Things You Should Know About Nickelback
• Also read: Show at the Videotron Center: Nickelback repeats ‘until the wee hours’
No, Nickelback isn’t the reincarnation of the Beatles or the Radiohead emulators. Reinventing rock is not his thing.
However, one has to admit that Chad Kroeger’s band has a certain talent for creating catchy tunes with two guitars, bass and drums.
Success was not lacking in Nickelback’s fiery reunion with Quebec, sixteen years after his last concert with us, during the 2007 Summer Festival.
The electrifying “Animals”, the unifying “How You Remind Me”, the riotous “Burn It To The Ground”, photo in acoustic version: the program featured all the songs that have hit the airwaves of FM radio stations since 2001, to great delight of the audience, who enjoyed chanting “olé, olé” appreciatively.
“A lot of people for a Monday,” remarked Chad Kroeger happily.
” I have a sore throat… “
In a show in which there was no shortage of jets of flame, various lighting effects and animated sequences on the big screen, the quartet tried above all to establish a connection with the Quebecers by more or less convincingly and satedly testing their knowledge of the French language, after a week of rehearsals in the capital.
Amusing at first, Kroeger’s “I love you” and Ryan Peake’s “I have a soor throat” eventually became tiresome and broke rhythm without wanting to abandon their desire to learn the language of Vigneault and Leclerc.
Surrounded by nice little bonuses, the appearance of a man named Marco, who after winning a radio contest got a chance to sing rock star with his idols, hit the mark. “Remember, YouTube is forever,” teased Chad Kroeger, who took the trouble to advise him.
Under these circumstances, Marco didn’t have to be ashamed of his performance.
Use your repertoire
In just over an hour and 45 minutes, Kroeger, Peake, Mike Kroeger and Daniel Adair reworked around twenty songs.
Nickelback has made moderate use of the latest Get Rollin’ from 2022. Only three tracks from this album made it onto the evening menu. Of course, Chad Kroeger predicted that the band would sing Those Days to the end of their career, but we reserve our judgment.
For the rest, the Canadian rockers focused on their albums from the 2000s, with a clear preference for All The Right Reasons songs.
It was around this time that they were building their business and, like any good rock band, have the intelligence to exploit the strengths of their repertoire to give their clients what they demand: bonus pyrotechnic effects.
- Nickelback will be at the Bell Center in Montreal on Wednesday night.