Nickelback at Air Canada Centre

Photographs by Sean Chin.

Nickelback have been one of the most hated bands since the very beginning. “The lack of creativity, innovation, and basically doing the same thing over and over again” and selling it in different packaging is what many say. Though they have created the fans and the celebrity status to go with it, has been equally a success in being completely left outside of the thinking-people’s “to be respected” catalog. People have loved to hate Nickelback, and there are some reasons why. They’re the outdated, worn out boys-band of Rock and Roll, a watered down corporate Rock act who have been forced upon the music listeners by sheer mass-repetition. It’s predictable, therefore not interesting, it’s that simple.

The silver lining in more than decade worth of that repetition, however, is the tight performance of the band resulted by it, which you may find interesting if you’re willing to go along with the heavily compressed sound with no dynamic, though beautifully mixed, as well as the front man Chad Kroeger‘s constant insistence on being the humorous charismatic entertainer. He is neither. “I was thinking I shouldn’t say “fuck” as much tonight because there are children in the audience, but hey! If you go to Dairy Queen you should expect some ice cream”, perhaps a strange or a spot on analogy, said by Kroeger in one of his in-between-songs rants.

To sum up, if you’re a modern-day teenager into Rock and Metal, I kind of get why you might like Nickelback, though I seriously believe there are many better options out there. And if you’re a nostalgic teenager of the 80’s, whether by age or in spirit, missing the glory days of AC/DC, Metallica, Guns ‘N Roses, and Van Halen, you guys seemed the be the happiest crowed at the Air Canada Centre, and I’m glad the music is working for you.