I drove to work this morning listening to Nickelback's "Silver Side Up" and I was thinking about how I'll be seeing them in concert on October 20th. Of any headlining band I've ever seen, I think this is one of those I'm the least excited about. That prompted me to write about this topic: Should Nickelback be a headliner?
First of all name all of Nickelback "hits". Go ahead, I'm waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
I'll help you, before this morning I thought Nickelback's two most popular songs were "How You Remind Me" and "Never Again". Then beyond that and maybe "Rockstar", I wouldn't really say they had any "hits". I don't think they are deserving to be a headliner, not even close. If you stick around long enough, do you become a headliner?
I looked at both napster.com and the iTunes music store for the Top 50 songs by Nickelback. On napster.com's Top 50 "How You Remind Me" is only their 18th most popular song and "Never Again" is #23. On iTunes music store "How You Remind Me" is #16 and "Never Again" is #26. As they would say on "Battlestar Galactica", what the frak?
My favorite song off "Dark Horse" is "Just To Get High" (19), (18) and they apparently aren't playing that song either.
The following set list is from the September 29th show in Newark, New Jersey. The numbers in parenthesis: length of song, the napster.com ranking and then the iTunes music store ranking. (Thanks to setlist.fm.) Then a comment about the songs quality.
1. Burn It to the Ground (3:31) (5), (8) This is a good song. A perfect song to start off a rock concert. This has quickly become one of my favorite Nickelback songs. At Nickelback.com its voted the fans favorite song off of "Dark Horse".
2. Flat On The Floor (2:02) (41), (33) A very generic and thankfully short Nickelback song.
3. Photograph (4:19) (9), (6) A good, but generic, rock ballad. The first song fires up the crowd and then two momentum killing songs?
4. Savin' Me (3:39) (13), (10) Another generic Nickelback sort of rock song. Another momentum killing song.
5. Shakin' Hands (3:40) (14), (15) This is one of their better songs on "Dark Horse", but the lyrics again are sophomoric.
6. Something in Your Mouth (3:39)(8), (11) Just another stupid sex song. A band learns to write this song in Rock Cliche 101. I know there's nothing new under the sun, but this takes being tasteless to a whole new level.
7. This Afternoon (4:35) (1), (4) Another one of the better songs on the CD, but again another typical sound alike Nickelback song. Although this song does mention Bob Marley. Bonus points for that. One can spot a Nickelback or ZZ Topp song a mile away.
8. Friends In Low Places (Garth Brooks cover) This should be interesting to hear live. I think "The Thunder Rolls" would be a cooler song to play live though.
9. If Today Was Your Last Day (4:08) (3), (2) Oh my, tyring to be inspiring Nickelback songs? Really?
10. Don't Stop Believing (Journey cover) I love Journey and this is a pretty cool song, but why would Nickelback play this song in concert?
11. Rockstar (4:12) (2), (1) A humorous song, but where's the rock songs?
12. Animals (3:07) (15), (12) Yet another generic sex rock song. Their song topics are as limited as Aerosmiths.
13. How You Remind Me (3:42) (18), (16) At the concert, when Nickelback gets to this song, I'll be thinking it's about time. I'll also be hoping they play "Never Again" in Salt Lake.
14. Too Bad (3:52) (27), (28) I like this song, but is this the song you'd really pick to go into the encore?
Encore:
15. Gotta Be Somebody (4:13)(6), (3) What's up with Nickelback? Either the song is about sex or a song trying to inspire. In this case, another generic Nickelback song.
16. Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi cover) This could be cool as long as they don't completely Nickelbackize it.
17. Someday (3:28) (16), (17) Okay this is a really cool song, too bad they don't have more songs like this.
18. Figured You Out (3:49) (17), (21) Another weak song and this is the show closer? When they get to Salt Lake and if they don't play "Never Again" I'd be very disappointed. Why would they close with this weak song?
All these songs only add up to about 66 minutes, throw in some talking and their set runs about 75 minutes. That's just about right for me.
I look at this set list and I'm not real excited about seeing them sing 18 similar sounding songs in a row. Another sign they shouldn't be a headliner is the number of covers they have in their set list. That's an admittance of weak original songs.
Now let's talk about Chad Kroeger, he doesn't have the rock star look, he looks more like a parody of a rock star. He's the rock version of MacGruber to James Bond. The rock equivalent would be Chad Kroeger to Robert Plant. Can you name any other member of the band? With most bands there's someone that has an excellent musician vibe. Think Led Zeppelin, The Who, AC/DC, Van Halen etc. The Nickelback musicians are just nameless, faceless rock stars.
This is a rock band?
For me Buckcherry will be the highlight, they have some incredible songs. Now I'm going to review the band of the three that I want to see the most. Thanks again to setlist.fm, here's their setlist:
1) Talk to Me: (3:28) (109) An okay song.
2) Rescue Me (3:13) (18) This is the best of the first three songs played on this night.
3) All Night Long: (3:53) (3) Almost Nicklebackish in its lameness and predictability.
4) Everything: (4:23) (7) An amazing song. This song starts out a bit weird, but when it gets to the chorus the greatness of this song comes out. If Nickelback played this song, it would easily be one of their best songs.
5) Next 2 You: (3:29) (15) An amazing song. This song from start to finish is amazing. This may be the best song played on October 20th.
6) Lit Up: (3:36) (4) A great song, although I hate the song's topic.
7) These Things (3:50) (16) Buckcherry is a strange band. First of all thanks Buckcherry, thank you for not every song being about sex. Buckcherry can really kick your butt with one song and then come back with a nice ballad.
8) It's a Party (3:43) (10) This song would fit right in with Nickelback's generic rock.
9) Dead (5:22) (27) Another generic rock song.
10) Sorry (3:46) (2) This generations "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
11) Crazy Woman (3:22) (1) I also love this song but the lyrics are sophomoric. What a crazy idea, saving two of your best songs for the end of your set.
If it was up to me the headliner would be Buckcherry, then Three Days Grace and Nickelback would open the show. I'd let Nickelback play 6 or 7 songs, but no more. I would also pick those songs for them.
themusicaddict
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