All photos and review by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Shaman’s Harvest started the night off with style, this band hails from Missouri and I have just recently discovered this band thanks to Spotify. It was their cover song of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” that caught my attention and now is permanently on my Spotify list. They were a perfect fit for Nickelback’s “Feed The Machine Tour” and I can’t wait until they come back to town. They explained to everyone in attendance that this was their first time in Canada, and that seeing their name on the huge LED wall was “we is highfalutin up here”. It was unfortunate that the venue wasn’t even half full at this point. I wish more people would come for the openers, you never know what you may find.
Daughtry was next up, and I was thrilled they were on the bill. I recently caught their acoustic show at a venue not far from Toronto and was happy I was finally able to see the full show. Chris was full of energy as he moved around on stage with ease, they made the most of their 45 min set. I was a bit taken aback when they started a cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” but much to my surprise they did a good job. Nothing quite like covering such an iconic song. Chris asked the audience to help them sing “Over You” and to sing along “kinda little sitting in the car waiting for the one line you know, and then you kill that shit” in which the fans happily obliged. As Chris started “Over You” he proceeded to sing out of key not once but twice, but had a good laugh over it. Seeing this reaction made everyone in the venue smile, and I can’t wait until they come back and kill it again.
50 million cds sold, countless hits and a jam packed Budweiser Stage, Nickelback didn’t hold anything back on Tuesday night. Even the skies decided to co-operate and the rain stayed clear of the Budweiser Stage so we could enjoy the show. The beer was flowing freely throughout the 16,000+ in attendance and if you ask me that is an awful lot of closet Nickelback fans out there. Starting off the night with “Feed The Machine”, which is also the name of their new CD, the fans jumped to their feet and waved their hands in the air for the rest of this 2 hour show.
Alcohol seemed to be the theme of the evening as Chad stated he may or may not be nursing a hangover as he explained that they came into town the night before and may or may not have gone to an adult establishment. Talking about Jell-O shots all the way to tape worms, the banter between Chad and the fans was witty to say the least. I found myself laughing quite a few times throughout the evening. Some bands I have seen recently need to up their banter game a bit more. The audience wants to feel involved and Chad had no problems doing this, even passing a pitcher of shots to fans in the front row to share.
The stage set up was very similar to the last time Nickelback was in town. Behind the stage set up of the normal gear, there was an enourmous LED wall that showed video of the performance, video effects and b roll from videos. The circle trusses surrounded the LED wall with bright moving lights. I do have to make mention that I miss the stage show from years ago, the over the top, larger than life pyro needs to make a come back.
Nickelback didn’t need any help getting the audience involved at all but they went one step further by incorporating The Tragically Hip song “Blow At High Dough” into their song “Too Bad” which of course, the fans went crazy for being in “Hip Country”. Smart way to win over the fans but honestly I don’t think Nickelback needed any help, there was nothing but love in the audience for them.
There was one unsuspecting fan in the crowd that had the surprise of a lifetime. Chad brought a gentleman on stage to sing “Rockstar”. “Ok let’s play karaoke does anyone want to come sing with us? Does anyone know all the words to Rockstar?” Chad found someone in the audience that he apparently knew, a fire fighter, and proceeded to tell him as his nerves were probably at the highest point, “When you start feeling the butterflies just remember one thing, YouTube is forever!” As far as I am concerned this guy did a great job and you can probably see for yourself because it is all over the Internet by now.
The whole night wasn’t all about their hit songs, even though they played a lot of them (Lullaby, Animals, Stand Together, just to name a few). They played a few new ones as well. Chad asked the crowd “If we play one of those songs do you promise not to go take a piss and get a beer, I have been guilty of this”. Sorry Chad, as much as I love you guys, I am guilty as well. If it is any consolation I could still hear the song on my travels.
I can safely say if there were any birds nests, cobwebs, or any debris in the rafters of the Budweiser Stage it is now laying comfortably on the venue floor. That was one loud show.
Once again thanks to the crew because without them there is no show!
