What were the Black Keys thinking when they blamed Nickelback for the death of rock ‘n’ roll?
On Saturday night, as part of the Yasalam F1 after-race concerts, the Canadian band lived up to their rock star image with a performance laden with expletives, drinking on stage and devil horns.
“A good F1 is nothing but a party,” said Chad Kroeger, the lead singer and Avril Lavigne’s fiancé. And what a party it was.
The group opened with Something In Your Mouth and Bottoms Up. Such a pity their enthusiasm was not met by the crowd as the songs were from their more recent albums. However, the 20,000 packed at the du Arena was happy to yell out the chorus for the more popular numbers Far Away, Some Day and How You Remind Me.
“One thing that never changes is the sound of women screaming,” said Kroeger. The teenaged girls around us treated the band influenced by Metallica as though they were the latest boy band.
Drummer Daniel Adair’s energetic solo won him high praise from Kroeger who encouraged the “talented[expletive]” to take a bow. He was rewarded with the chance to croon out the opening lyrics of Figured You Out.
It was hard not to love Kroeger, sporting a dapper shorter hair style, on Trying Not to Love You and Gotta Be Somebody.
The band, who according to bassist Mike Kroeger would love to tour with Led Zeppelin, proved that rock is not the only genre they were well versed in. Guitarist Ryan Peake took to the piano for the mellow When We Stand Together.
However, the icing on the yummy cupcake that was the concert was the mega-hit that took us down memory lane, Photograph. We are pretty sure everyone was thinking of the pranks they played as a kid, childhood crushes and the times they sneaked out of school by the time the closing lyrics died down.
The only downside to the otherwise well-organised concert was that we had to jump on stones, yes stones. With slippers and open sandals being the footwear of choice, we wonder how many people are nursing cuts and bruises today.
When tabloid! chatted to Mike Kroeger a few weeks before the show, he was recuperating in Paris after their most recent European tour. And with the way they made the stage their own, it is no surprise the band requires lots of much needed R&R.
