Nickelback are something of an enigma in the music industry. The band has a lot of haters and are the butt of even more jokes.
People who are divided on every musical point are often united solely by their mutual hatred of the Canadian rock outfit, actively going out of their way to ridicule them.
Even if they have gotten used to the constant mockery, it must have hurt when the online campaign to prove a pickle could get more Facebook fans than the band turned out to be so successful.
Despite the daily scorn they have never compromised their approach. They have a killer sales record and continue to have #1 singles and sell out concerts across the globe. Far be it to take to Nickelback’s defence, but these facts don’t seem to add up.
Their Allphones Arena concert then, was a bit of a social experiment if you will.
Was the stadium going to be filled with closet fans trying to slink into the background, pretending to have been dragged along? Had the night been sold out purely by those wanting to become YouTube sensations by throwing a bottle at Chad Kroeger’s head? Or was this the one night a year the city of Sydney wears their Nickelback pride like a badge of honour?
A common complaint is that their music tends to all sound the same, particularly the ballads, but they did manage to bring some diversity to the night by crossing between the heavier and more radio friendly songs.
One point in their pros column is the fact that a number of their fans who access their latest hits via easy music listening radio stations turn up and get a face full of rock, far heavier than they might have been expecting.
The setlist worked on a scale like a wave, bringing the energy up with a couple of heavier songs and then dropping it back down again for a ballad or two.
‘Animals’ was a real crowd pleaser and probably got the biggest audience response. After that things slowed down again with ‘Trying Not To Love You’, which was one of the more painful numbers to sit through with lyrics that can only be described as desperately lame.
One thing that was lacking in diversity though was their stage movements. The band tended to stick to their corners with Kroeger pacing back and forth occasionally. The performance aspect of the evening was all tied up in their banter between the songs.
Openers for the night, Jackson Firebird, actually put a lot more energy and movement into their performance than Nickelback, which is impressive seeing as they are only a two piece. The brother-in-laws from Victoria did well warming up the crowd and their solid rock sound was well suited to the audience.
In the cons column, Nickelback’s less than classy lyrics are embarrassingly bad at times. From ‘Photograph’ where the words seem to have been put together solely because they rhymed (“How did our eyes get so red/ and what the hell is on Joey’s head”) and quite often misogynistic; like ‘Something in Your Mouth’ about the “dirty little lady” who “looks so much better with something in [her] mouth.”
If the point is to score with the ladies, then miraculously it was working. Female punters were happy to shake their assets when they were spotted on camera and an obligatory bra was flung onto Kroeger towards the start of the show.
What else to say about Chad Kroeger? Yes, his hair isn’t great and aligning himself with Avril Lavigne has just made him an easier target to poke fun at (her potential appearance was an added incentive, but alas, she was not present), but Kroeger was surprisingly likeable even if he does take himself a little too seriously at times.
The thing is, even if Nickelback managed to release a decent song, they would never get the credit they deserve, because they’ve become a parody of themselves – even if they’re good sports about it (such as in their latest video for “The Afternoon”).
Besides, they have become mega wealthy for their uncompromising attitude (even it is uncompromisingly mediocre). Whatever your opinion of them, they either don’t care – or are beyond caring.
