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Nickelback: Too little, too late

Solid set, but too short, too late and lacking soul.
16 februari 2002, 013, Tilburg (NL)

Tekst: Tessa Halm

Publicatiedatum: 03 maart 2002

For some reason Canadian band Nickelback turned up in Holland without a supporting act. This in itself doesn't have to be a problem, but it turns into somewhat of a pain in the you-know-what when the band takes the stage only when enough time has passed so that a possible opening act could have done a complete show if there had been an opening act to begin with. Confusing? Not in the least, it means the audience had to wait a hell of a long time before they got to see Nickelback. Once Chad Kroeger and his men did get in front of the 2200 people that filled the sold out venue, it was clear they were going to give their best. The guys were obviously enjoying themselves immensely on stage. So much so, they didn't appear to notice how bad the sound was. Fortunately the sound improved halfway into 'Too Bad', the third song and one the audience clearly had been waiting for. With the improved sound the quality of Kroeger's voice also became clear. He has one of those hoarse, grating, but very rocking voices. It's a shame though, that a band enjoying themselves on stage and good vocals aren't the sole ingredients for a good rock concert. The one ingredient that Nickelback lacked was an emotional connection to the lyrical content of the songs. The band played a solid set, technically, but didn't manage to convey any soul. The songs were worked through in an analytical manner without Kroeger showing any real connection to what he was singing about.
Another point of criticism must be directed towards the guy who controlled the lights. It appeared the whole light show had been programmed in advance, which is good if it means it's something special. It was, the lights were very good. But for some reason the guy who sat behind the console didn't, couldn't or wouldn't improvise. The result being that there were numerous moments when the Kroeger brothers and Ryan Peake stepped up onto the speakers and the lights failed to meet them there. The guys were left playing to the audience in the dark, no spotlights!
Nickelback has only recently gained a following in Holland. 'The State', the album with which the band broke through in Canada and the States has been released over here only after the success of their follow-up album 'Silver Side Up'. Therefore it was sort of surprising to see the audience's huge reaction to 'Breathe' off of 'The State'. Other favourites on that album appeared to be 'Worthy To Say', also known as the pot-song (with matching weed-shaped spotlights) and 'Leader Of Men'.
One thing Nickelback does know how to do is to improvise on their songs. None of the songs they played sounded exactly like they do on CD. The band added a twist here, an acoustic version there, and a few extra instruments in other places. 'Worthy To Say', specifically, was transformed into more of a laid-back, relaxed and, well, stoned song. The promise Chad Kroeger had made the audience, that Nickelback would do a longer set because of the long wait before the show, of course wasn't kept. After 55 minutes the band left the stage and they didn't come back. Maybe they'll do a longer set when they come back to the Melkweg in a few weeks, but somehow I doubt it.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/nickelback/nickelback-too-little-too-late/1374/
Meer Nickelback op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/nickelback