Here's a present for reading this stupid shit:
I know it seems like a funny Internet bit that I mention Nickelback so frequently on my website.. but, again, I am so fr about it. Here is something I wrote as a bit for my official Ticketmaster concert review. IIRC, my wife and I attended this event in September of 2023. The review is thrilling, to say the least.
Show Date: 2023 / 09 / 21
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
*
🪨 The wife and I hopped in the car drove all the way down to Tulsa, Oklahoma to see a goddamn rock'n'roll show, and I'll be damned if Nickelback didn't serve up a fat helping of rock AND roll for this Midwest dyke to enjoy!!!!! I know a lot of you don't take their music seriously, but they play stadium shows for a reason... just saying. So anyways, my wife and I decided to buy tickets because they weren't really that pricey, and it sounded like a fun time whether they were good or bad.
🥁 My immediate first thought when Nickelback finally started playing was "Holy shit what happened?" because their drummer absolutely ate shit off the stage running up to the platform. Fell right into his drumkit, which I have actually done before, and it fucking hurt. Ironically, he's the most sober and serious one of the group, so that was unfortunate for him and his reputation. He still kept it nailed down, though; I honestly think he's a pretty slept-on rock drummer. But yeah, they had to stop the first song before the stage lights even came on to make sure he hadn't broken his face or something. Never seen that before.
🍁 My other first thought when they started playing was that their sound team deserved a raise. Then I remembered that they're Canadian, and they seem pretty nice, so they probably just pay their staff well and don't ask questions. It's hard to make their particular divorced-dad flavor of rock sound good in any human-sized space, let alone a big ass fuckin' hockey stadium. Even when you've been playing together and gear experimenting for 30 years, that requires a hefty amount of skill as well as an ability to put away the ego for a huge team effort, so good for them.
🎤 Another highlight was when they picked a random concertgoer to sing a duet of Rockstar with Chad, which was definitely not as painful as you might think. The lanky little yeehaw dude they picked was awesome and he really slayed it, albeit he'd had about a dozen too many Coors Lights and damn near fell off the stage.. better once than twice, I guess.
📺 Aside from the music ripping hard, the visuals accompanying the songs were really cool to look at, as well. They were different for each song, and honestly, the art style and rendering were executed really well. They must hand pick a lot of their employees or something, or their record company is just really good at hiring little queers to do the music production.. I also thought it was perfect that they had red and blue lighting for their rendition of Chad's 2002 magnum opus Hero, which was written for the Spider-Man movie soundtrack if you didn't already know. Great beer dad humor.
You may have notice that I augmented my 5 star rating up at the top. That would be due to the opening act, 👎Brantley Gilbert 👎. I don't know what hick-hop hellhole they pulled that guy out of, but while he was playing I felt like I was at an alt-right church service. His band was louder than Nickelback, which if I were Nickelback, I'd be a little bit upset about. Their sound was also mixed terribly, which was probably on purpose so the sound guy didn't have to hear this shit. You couldn't hear anything but the faux Kirk Hammett guitar soloist the entire time, and I could barely distinguish between the different songs. It was terrible.
You'd think thrash metal guitar featuring Fred Durst if he had less stage presence would be pretty entertaining (I'm looking at you, Kid Rock), but it turns out that the charm wears off after about 30 seconds. Suddenly you realize, even though you're wearing expensive ear plugs and sitting in front of a million dollar sound system run by industry professionals, your ears are somehow still ringing. At least Kid Rock has some good songs, and you can probably hear him singing at his concerts.
I try to be non-judgmental about music because I know it's hard to perform your art in front of a bunch of people, but this guy fucking sucked. A lot of other folks around me looked confused or bored when 🚫Mr. Gilbert🚫 started his act, as well. I just don't understand why he got picked out of all the possible bands they could've hired. It just felt like an out-of-place choice, and it definitely didn't hype me up to see some goddamn rock'n'roll.
I came back to update this blogpost (in early 2025) to add that I was at a gas station recently and saw Mr. Gilbert advertising his shitty new single on the tiny gas station pump TVs... that's some sad shit. I'd also add that the song absolutely sucked, and he looked like he'd been hitting the liquor way too hard. The event reaffirmed that I hate this guy so much.
❤️🔥 Despite the aforementioned qualms with the opener, I still think Nickelback put on a hell of a show that was worth the price of admission. They shredded every single riff, they played all their popular singles and sounded better than the studio recordings. As an added bonus, their visual show and stage banter was entertaining without being cringy. Just be prepared to suffer through the opener if you're not into the whole Florida Georgia Line if they got into QAnon shtick.
Here's a present for reading this stupid shit: