Nickelback live in Bologna, a full-throttle race

“Hate to Love: Nickelback”: this is how Nickelback chose to christen the documentary on their story which, premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, sees the Canadian band looking back, collecting the experiences of a lifetime, aiming horizon and tell your story on the big screen. Right from the title, the group led by Chad Kroeger plays with the reputation it has earned of “most loved and hated band ever“, for reasons still inexplicable today, which perhaps go beyond his success and his surprising level of popularity, which starting from his third album “Silver side up” in 2001, the album of the hit “How you remind me”, has gathered fans and followers, as well as some haters.

While it's hard to find why it seems so obvious for some to denigrate them, it's easy to understand.the passion that binds the public towards Nickelback during their concert on June 2nd at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, just outside Bologna.

At the end of 2022, five years after “Feed the machine”, and after a pandemic, with a consequent forced stop of live activities, the group originally from Hanna, Alberta, returned with a new studio album, “Get rollin'” (here is our review) and brought his music back to the stages. Now, Nickelback is back also in concert in Italy, six years later since their last tricolor passage.

On a Sunday in early June with indefinable weather, waiting for Kroeger and his associates, the atmosphere of the Bologna stadium warms up with the fun and entertaining indie pop of the British Lottery Winnerswhich came to the attention of the Canadian band – as also recalled on stage by the frontman – thanks to a video on TikTok of their “sea shanty” version of “Rockstar”.

Nickelback's moment then arrives promptly at 8.45pm, and the start of the concert is marked by the roar of the van carrying the members of the band that appears in the video. Guitarist and singer Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger and drummer Daniel Adair then make their entrance on stage. Drum bursts and incisive guitar and bass are the real signal that the audience was waiting for to burst into a roar and thus welcome the band. We start from the last album with the single “.San Quentin”, the right electric charge to start the dance.

The show that Nickelback stage at the Unipol Arena It's a decidedly well-tested show, which the group has been carrying around for about a year and which also works with Italian fans. There safety of the four musicians on stage erases the few imperfections that could be perceived during the evening, while the participation of the public is in line with the interactions of the band towards the crowded parterres and stands of the building.

There are Chad Kroeger's banter with the other band members, the onstage celebrations for road manager Bradley Kind's birthday and the songs. From the first track in the setlist, through “Savin' Me”, “Far Away”, “Animals” and “Someday” Nickelback do it.a journey into their discography, drawing heavily from their works and also giving away their most loved songs. There are also, among others, “When we stand together” and “Photograph” in acoustic, as well as the cover of “Don't look back in anger” by Oasis here with the Lottery Winners. Also unmissable are “Rockstar”, performed almost according to script with the participation of two fans on stage, and “How you remind me”, which transform the building in a large karaoke room.

The Nickelback concert at the Unipol Arena is like this a race with the accelerator pressedlike the one of the van that appears every now and then on video, with the well-established coordinates that do not allow deviations or sudden changes in direction. For about an hour and forty-five minutes of music, Kroeger and co go straight ahead without letting the energy drop and offer an evening in line with their name, leaving with “Gotta be somebody” and “Burn it to the ground”.

Walk (registered) – from Pantera

San Quentin
Savin' Me
Far Away
Animals
Someday
Worthy to Say
Figured You Out
When We Stand Together
This Afternoon
Hero

– Cover by Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott

Don't Look Back in Anger – Cover by Oasis (with the Lottery Winners)

Photograph
Rockstars
Those Days
How You Remind Me

BIS

Gotta Be Somebody
Burn It to the Ground