Nickelback keep things rolling at impressive London show

Written by Kahmel Farahani on May 25, 2024

Nickelback return to London with their `Get Rollin’` tour.

Words: Kahmel Farahani

Photos: Aggie Anthimidou

If there is one thing that the Nickelback thrive on, it’s crowd interaction;

Chad Kroeger asks the ladies in the crowd to to scream and is met by a tremendous response. A group of die-hard fans in the front row hold up placards, announcing this as their 90th show. Guitarist Ryan Peaks responds by going down to the front row and giving her a hug. Nickelback clearly have a deep affection for their fans and the feeling is mutual. Tonight in London, they have managed to near as makes no difference pack out the 02 Arena

Ryan and Chad toast the crowd and thank Ryan’s wife for the charity work that her foundation does and that a portion of all Nickelback ticket sales goes to support. The video that accompanies `When We Stand Together` shows various scenes of war and poverty around the world. While it’s far from subtle, the thought and spirit is admirable. `Far Away` is the sort of soft rock ballad that strays over the line into overbearing slush, but the fans aren’t wrong and 18000 strong sing it back to the band.

“We looked at the setlist, and decided to go back into the catalogue and pick out a rocker we haven’t played for a long time, then just slide it into the set for London!” says Chad Kroeger, before kicking off the rather heavy riff “Because of You”. It’s the first time the song has been played live since 2017 and a fine reminder that Nickelback can really turn up the volume when they want to. Heavy, direct and fun, it’s Nickelback at their best.

Pulling various guests onstage is another theme on this tour. Indeed everyone from their roadie Rob Dawson to random fans in the crowd and even the opening band join them onstage tonight! The latter provides one of the most random yet enjoyable moments of the evening, as The Lottery Winners come onstage and join Nickelback in a note perfect cover of Oasis’ `Don’t Look Back In Anger`. While it doesn’t have any connection to the band or their own music, it’s more or less the UK’s national anthem and they get a pass on this one, as well as uniting every single person in the O2 Arena singing the chorus. Oasis is followed by the band’s own key note soft rock ballad, `Photograph`.

The big sing along hits like `Rockstar` and `How You Remind Me` are all present and accounted for tonight. The band end their main set with the latter and swiftly return to big applause. The encore starts with `Gotta Be Somebody` and ends with the bombaastic `Burn It To The Ground`.

While they may never be fashionable or trendy in the world of rock and roll, it’s undeniable that Nickelback know how to put on an outstanding show, and they certainly left their fans satisfied tonight.