Nickelback
RodeoHouston
NRG Stadium
March 13, 2024

So, we all still hate Nickelback, yes?

At least, that’s what y’all would have me believe, as every mention of seeing Nickelback at RodeoHouston seemed to be met with a snicker, a raised eyebrow, or – twice – an outright laugh.

And yet, over 75,000 people turned up to NRG Stadium to see the Canadians. It was a pretty packed house, which tells me one thing: Y’all are some ****** liars and hypocrites.

For all the flack Nickelback catches for being this post-grunge sell-out churning out formulaic music for the masses, that’s kind of exactly what RodeoHouston needs. It’s hard to argue that the band’s guitar-heavy, sonically pleasing, country-adjacent music isn’t made for a 60-minute set on RodeoHouston’s massive star-shaped stage.

The band – with original members Chad and Michael Kroeger (brothers) and Ryan Peake, along with Daniel Adair, their drummer since 2005 – took the stage to great fanfare and pyrotechnics around 9:30 p.m., kicking things off on the rotating stage with the hard rockin’ “San Quentin.”

The song, released as a single in 2022, established much of what was in store for the evening – good beats, a noticeably heavy metal influence, and requisite guitar solos. Following the song, lead singer and guitarist Chad Kroeger cheekily told the crowd that though this may be the band’s first time at RodeoHouston, “I promise you this. This is not our first rodeo.”

“Savin’ Me,” the first track of the evening from the band’s best-selling 2005 album All the Right Reasons, made an appearance next with rhythm guitarist Ryan Peake stealing focus for the first of many times throughout the night with his playing, backing vocals, and as the straight man for Kroeger’s patter to bounce off of.

“I was made for screaming into a microphone,” declared Kroeger, before slowing things down with an obligatory nod to the ladies in the audience and “Far Away,” a love song which was unsurprisingly met with huge applause.

Up next was “Animals” and the first (but not the last) appearance of the T-shirt cannon, before a haunting riff led right into the band’s 2003 hit “Someday.”

After some more patter about being careful with what he says, the band jumped into “Figured You Out” – a song that leads off with the lyrics “I like your pants around your feet” – before playing the most country-flavored song of the night, “This Afternoon.”

“This Afternoon” is a little ditty about hanging out, getting high, and drinking beer which, to be fair, Kroeger has said is kind of like their own take on Garth Brooks’ famous “Friends in Low Places.”

After some brief play with the stadium’s transcription service, leading to Kroeger attempting to get the board to write out the phrase “Chad Kroeger is a ding-dong” (which was partially accomplished), self-awareness made an appearance.  

“If you’ve ever seen the internet, you know this…” is how Kroeger introduced the heavily meme-ed “Photograph.” The band broke out the acoustic guitars for the song, which quickly turned into a stadium-wide singalong and light show with all the cell phones held up in the air.

The acoustic guitars stayed close for “Rockstar,” before the stadium once again went into singalong mode for arguably the band’s most famous song, 2001’s “How You Remind Me.”

Kroeger noted correctly that they had to “end the night on an absolute banger,” which ended up being the hard-hitting, anthemic “Burn It to the Ground,” which was coupled with plenty of fire shooting up from the floor. Overall, a strong ending to a strong performance. You can’t say they don’t put on a good show.   

Finally, just a couple of random notes:

I slipped into the press box in time to catch mutton bustin’. I still think it might just be an excuse to see cute kids face-plant in the dirt, but that little girl Quinn killed it. Way to go, Quinn.

If you squint from approximately eight stories away, Kroeger starts to resemble David Tennant.

Kroeger said he won money betting the previous night’s Rockets/Spurs game. He bet on the Rockets, which was obviously the right choice, but as a proud San Antonian, I’m still offended.

Setlist

1. San Quentin
2. Savin’ Me
3. Far Away
4. Animals
5. Someday
6. Figured You Out
7. This Afternoon
8. Photograph
9. Rockstar
10. How You Remind Me
11. Burn It to the Ground