Nickelback

Arena, Sheffield on Mon 25th Nov 2002

Festival favourites Nickelback demonstrated why they are the best live rock band in the world last night at Sheffield Arena. From the opening song to the last song, this show was spectacular.

If there is still anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of seeing Nickelback live, here is what you can usually expect: firstly, songs with generic chord changes and predictable melodies. These are extremely catchy melodies which you will find yourself singing along to long after the gig is finished; secondly, it is more than just a gig, they try to make it into a show.

Nickelback

Tragically in the past Nickelback have been criticised for writing such damn fine melodic tunes such as 'How You remind Me' - how anyone can criticise a band which can sell such vast amount of CDs is beyond me. [erm ... so you're saying Hear'say are beyond criticism? Get real! ed.]

'Woke Up This Morning' was the opening song for tonight's extravaganza, along with scorching, blinding, pyrotechnic explosions, which must have burst quite a few eardrums in neighbouring cities.

Nickelback

The stage set up was very elaborate. The drum kit was enormous and one can only imagine how many hours it took to set up. On either side of the stage stood metallic podiums so that the band members could display their guitar playing to the full.

Chad, Mike, and Ryan were all running around with so much energy that I felt exhausted just watching them.

There was even a little bit of humour when two fire extinguishers were expelled all over the audience by two road crew members. There was also a heart-warming moment when Chad brought his camera out to take a photo of the entire audience.

Nickelback

There were dazzling bright lights and explosions throughout the entire set which included 'Hollywood', 'Breathe', 'Leader Of Men', 'Hangnail', 'Never Again', and 'Too Bad'.

'Hero' was saved for the encore, and this demonstrated that Chad is excellent at singing live, and that is one thing about Nickelback that critics will never be able to attack, despite their showmanship at the end of the day they know how to play their instruments and sing live. Surely that is all that should matter about a live performance!

Nickelback

I am sure you can guess which song they chose to end the night with! A song that needs no introduction, that's right - 'How You Remind Me'. Chad started singing an acoustic version and that in itself would have been great, but half way through he stopped and smiled, looked at the crowd and said "Well now that you know the words..." At which point he put his electric guitar back around him, and kicked into the electric version of this timeless classic.

This was without a doubt one of my favourite gigs of this year. The one annoying thing about this gig was that when I was driving home, those immortal words kept popping into my head 'Never made it as a wise man...'

Nickelback

article by: Luke Seagrave

photos by: Luke Seagrave

published: 28/11/2002 05:37



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