Nickelback
04/03/06 17:15 Filed in: Wife Story | Personal
I was ready to hate this concert. I really only heard "Photograph" before last night. Many years ago we decided we were "too old" to go to rock concerts. Karen heard that Nickelback was coming to Glendale Arena and bought the tickets. She has the last album on the iPod.
I was prepared for a night of "chick music" but I did not get it! Apparently they started as a cover band and moved to the hard end of pop rock similar to Creed. It was a loud rock show complete with Pantera style pyrotechnics! The lead singer (Chad Kroeger) is a real showman. He would address the audience between each song and talk about the influences or inspiration of each tune. He threw in references to this week's hockey victory, a few local bars and the 135 days without rain.
The showmanship continues with a break to shoot free shirts into the audience with a pneumatic cannon. He must have thanked the audience 50 times for coming out, knowing the lyrics and making the show fun.
I am not sure were the showman ends and the truth begins, but the band seemed genuinely happy to be playing the concert. It was not some album deal obligation to them. They seemed pleased the audience knew the word to the songs, even older songs from the "Curb" and "The State" albums. I am not sure if this was also showmanship or if they were as shocked as I was that anyone was listening "back then."
It was a great night out. We may even start going to concerts again. Karen did not feel we were "too old" to fit in the crowd.
The stage was basic, an area for the lead singer, guitarist and bassist with the drummer on a platform behind them. A row of speakers on the stage provide the primary sound. They added a "catwalk" that stretched 30 feet into the audience so they could get up close and personal with the fans.
A flat panel style jumbotron was hung lengthwise above the drummer center stage. The cameras featured Chad's "talks" between songs on this screen and the 4 way screen on the scoreboard (normally this arena is for hockey games). Even the cheap seats got a good close up. During "Photograph" they showed video of photographs falling to a floor and featured some shots of the band having fun.
They added light arrays on either side of the jumbo screen. They were roughly twice the size of the jumbo. The array featured full color and resembled a very low resolution monitor. Each displayed a computer visualizer type screen as though iTunes were running on them. The overall visual was quite nice.
The speaker banks on stage were topped with the propane fire blasters like you feel at most new thrill rides. They would shoot 20 foot flames that definitely warmed us on the floor and greatly contributed to the drummer's sweat! They had several sparkle shooters both up (fountain style) and down. Combined with at least 20 bang caps the fireworks alone were worth the ticket price.
My ears are still not recovered. I still have a heavy ringing in both ears 22 hours after the concert started. We got very dehydrated and had to make an emergency McDonald's run after the show!
Much of the crowd was 30 ish. Some of the floor dwellers were teen girls but they had a Mom in tow. Surprisingly large portions of the floor crew was 40+ (actually ++). I don't know if that was the band's crowd (remembering they knew the words to the old stuff, too) or if the thrill of the floor is lost on the newer crop of concert goers.
I was prepared for a night of "chick music" but I did not get it! Apparently they started as a cover band and moved to the hard end of pop rock similar to Creed. It was a loud rock show complete with Pantera style pyrotechnics! The lead singer (Chad Kroeger) is a real showman. He would address the audience between each song and talk about the influences or inspiration of each tune. He threw in references to this week's hockey victory, a few local bars and the 135 days without rain.
The showmanship continues with a break to shoot free shirts into the audience with a pneumatic cannon. He must have thanked the audience 50 times for coming out, knowing the lyrics and making the show fun.
I am not sure were the showman ends and the truth begins, but the band seemed genuinely happy to be playing the concert. It was not some album deal obligation to them. They seemed pleased the audience knew the word to the songs, even older songs from the "Curb" and "The State" albums. I am not sure if this was also showmanship or if they were as shocked as I was that anyone was listening "back then."
It was a great night out. We may even start going to concerts again. Karen did not feel we were "too old" to fit in the crowd.
Set
The stage was basic, an area for the lead singer, guitarist and bassist with the drummer on a platform behind them. A row of speakers on the stage provide the primary sound. They added a "catwalk" that stretched 30 feet into the audience so they could get up close and personal with the fans.
A flat panel style jumbotron was hung lengthwise above the drummer center stage. The cameras featured Chad's "talks" between songs on this screen and the 4 way screen on the scoreboard (normally this arena is for hockey games). Even the cheap seats got a good close up. During "Photograph" they showed video of photographs falling to a floor and featured some shots of the band having fun.
They added light arrays on either side of the jumbo screen. They were roughly twice the size of the jumbo. The array featured full color and resembled a very low resolution monitor. Each displayed a computer visualizer type screen as though iTunes were running on them. The overall visual was quite nice.
Pyrotechnics
The speaker banks on stage were topped with the propane fire blasters like you feel at most new thrill rides. They would shoot 20 foot flames that definitely warmed us on the floor and greatly contributed to the drummer's sweat! They had several sparkle shooters both up (fountain style) and down. Combined with at least 20 bang caps the fireworks alone were worth the ticket price.
Maybe I Am Too Old
My ears are still not recovered. I still have a heavy ringing in both ears 22 hours after the concert started. We got very dehydrated and had to make an emergency McDonald's run after the show!
Much of the crowd was 30 ish. Some of the floor dwellers were teen girls but they had a Mom in tow. Surprisingly large portions of the floor crew was 40+ (actually ++). I don't know if that was the band's crowd (remembering they knew the words to the old stuff, too) or if the thrill of the floor is lost on the newer crop of concert goers.