Prior to Valentine’s Day, I had never been to the PPL
Arena in Allentown, Pennsylvania. My first visit was definitely a memorable
one. As my wife and I made the long drive down quiet secondary roads, we kept
an eye on the weather, as snow was in the forecast. It wasn’t a major storm,
nor a blizzard, but dangerous winds and up to 3 inches of snow was being
forecasted for the ride home from the concert. 3 inches of snow didn’t really
bother me, and I figured that our ride home would be slower than usual, but
ultimately no big deal.
We got to the arena early. Since we had never been there
before, we wanted to allow for time to park and walk around the arena, taking
in the sights, and of course find which beer stands were the best to visit.
After making our way to the floor and locating our seats, Cathy and I headed
out to the halls on a beer run. After a quick lap around, I settled on a
Labatt’s stand. We were quickly greeted by a hard rocking dude and his leather
clad girlfriend. The dude was clearly tanked, and I wonder if he even
remembered a moment of the concert, let alone talking to us in line. His girlfriend/wife/significant
other was very sweet, and while I entertained the drinking man, making sure he
didn’t fall over, Cathy and the woman carried on a nice conversation. And the
dude was nice enough to buy our beers, after we promised to pay it forward at
some point in time, and not to spill a drop. With both promises made, we made a
polite departure to the merchandise stand for price checking and people
watching.
FYI: T-shirts are up to $40 now. I remember when they
were half that price, but I’m old, I know. Hoodie sweatshirts were going for
$70 and much to my disappointment there were no beanies or winter hats on sale.
How you go out on tour in the Northeast in the middle of winter and do not
offer warm hats for sale is beyond me, but I am not the merchandise manager for
Nickelback. However, in the event that he/she is reading this, sell some winter
hats! You would have made a killing that night.
We were back on the floor and in our seats with plenty of
time to see The Pretty Reckless open the show. Cathy hated them from the
opening note. They were too hard and too metal for her liking. I, on the other
hand, was absorbing their set and reserving judgment until it was over. I did
not know much about this band prior to their opening slot, but I had heard of
them. Turns out they’ve been around for 6 years and have released 2 albums and
1 EP. Not a bad little career launch.
Their stage show was dark and gloomy by design. Deep
purple and crimson lighting was used for the stage and rarely did the white lights
illuminate the area in front of lead singer, Taylor Mosmen. She is a good lead
singer and was working the crowd as best she could during their limited 30
minute set. For the most part, The Pretty Reckless had to let the music do
their talking, and while my wife would disagree, I would say that it did. By
the end of their set, the arena was full and everyone was on their feet
applauding their appreciation for the opening act---a rare occurrence in the
world of rock and roll. After seeing their live performance, I decided that I
would definitely have to check out more of their music in the near future.
After a longer than usual wait time between bands, the
house lights went dark at 9:18. It was time for the main event! It had been
five years since we last saw them in concert, so Cathy and I were extra amped
for this particular show. Nickelback took the stage with a roar and ripped into
their opening song, “A Million Miles An Hour.” It was a great selection to open
the tour, as it is the first song on their latest record. The band performed it
with a ferocity and intensity that told the crowd it felt great to be back on
the road.
If you’ve never seen Nickelback’s live show, I implore
you to check them out for this tour. They are performing in just about every
inch of North America, so there is bound to be a show near you, and they are
absolutely amazing in concert. Even though five years had passed since the last
time I saw them, they haven’t lost any of their charisma or
ability at all. If anything, they’ve only gotten that much better. Chad Kroeger
was his usual engaging self, addressing the raucous crowd in between each song.
He acknowledged that the band had not been in Allentown for a long time and
they were making that up to the town by performing the opening night of their
world tour there. In the usual rockstar fashion, he told us several times that
there was no place else he would rather be at and that he hadn’t heard a crowd
this great in a long time. That line has to be in the rockstar handbook under
page one.
Even though it was the first show of a long tour, the
band was in mid-season form. Some minor hitches could be spotted by the trained
eye, but they were few and far between. As seasoned veterans of the stage,
Nickelback knows how to entertain and work their way through any glitches so they
appeared planned and go unnoticed by almost all. And the Allentown crowd was
primed for a hard rocking Saturday night, which was just what they got.
“Hero” was played for the first time in 10 years as noted
by Chad. The song was performed flawlessly, and it was great to hear it live. I
had forgotten about that gem (available on the first Spider-Man soundtrack) he
recorded with Josey Scott from Saliva. Other highlights included a fantastic
cover of the Foo Fighters “Everlong,” with lead vocals from guitarist Ryan
Peake. I figured Nickelback would perform at least one cover, but never would
have predicted a Foo Fighters song. Fan favorites “Gotta Be Somebody,” “Far
Away,” and “RockStar” were also played without error, sounding like the
masterpieces they are.
The infamous beer toss returned with a twist. Normally
during the beer toss (where the band literally tosses cups of beer into the
crowd) the road crew tosses out the beer while the band performs an instrumental
accompaniment. On this night however, Chad wanted to partake in the tossing
festivities. While the rest of the band performed Metallica as the backdrop,
Chad and some road crew members tossed cups of beer into the crowd, cheering
them on when they were actually caught (which was rare). It was an extremely
enjoyable moment, even though Cathy and I were not close enough to catch any cups
ourselves.
The show continued with a stupendous performance of the
megahit “Someday” followed by an impromptu performance of The Eagles “Take It
Easy” (first verse) and “Hotel California” where a man in the front row sang
lead vocals while the band plowed through the first verse of that song. Mr. Front
Row knew most of the words and the crowd filled in where they could before the
song ultimately fell apart just prior to the hook. That is one of the things
that is so cool about Nickelback, they are not afraid to take those kind of
chances. It was clear that the band was having a great time on stage and it
resonated with the crowd.
And while overall, the show was amazing, there were a few
downsides, although not many. The main thing that disappointed me was the
band’s decision to only perform 3 songs from “No Fixed Address.” Their latest
album is chock full of hits, but the band limited their performance selection
to “Million Miles An Hour,” “Edge Of A Revolution,” and “She Keeps Me Up.” They
avoided the ballads of the album and did not perform the best song of the
record “Sister Sin.”
It may be the curse of a band with so many hits, but they
also didn’t perform some of their biggest hits, including “Figured You Out.” I
know that when you have as many blockbuster songs as Nickleback does that it is
hard to perform them all, but I really thought that “Figured You Out” would be
played that night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Perhaps as the tour goes on,
Nickelback will mix up the set and add in additional new songs. Only time will
tell.
As for our ride home, it was absolutely horrendous. It’s
hard to believe that 3 inches of snow can wreck so much havoc on the roads, but
that was the case. None of the roads we travelled were treated and it took us
almost 3 hours to get home, for what would normally be a 1 hour ride. There
were points on the journey that I thought we were sleeping in the car for the
night; the roads were that bad. Yet, the journey was worth it, because we got
to see Nickelback live for the 4th time.
All in all, it was another wonderful night of live
Nickelback. The band conquered Allentown and are well prepared to rip through
North America for the next few months. They are scheduled t return this summer
and after seeing them live on Valentine’s Day, you can count me in for their
August performance at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. I’m
already counting down the days.
Setlist
Million Miles An Hour
Something In Your Mouth
Photograph
Everlong (Foo Fighters cover)
Hero
Gotta Be Somebody
Far Away
Edge Of A Revolution
Master of Puppets/Creeping Death (beer toss)
Someday
Too Bad
Moby Dick (Led Zeppelin cover)/Drum Solo
She Keeps Me Up (first time ever performed live)
When We Stand Together
Take It Easy/Hotel California (impromptu Eagles cover)
Rockstar
How You Remind Me
Encore
Animals
Burn It To The Ground
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