Nickelback June 14th 2004 Manchester Carling Apollo “It’s a good thing that the members of Nickelback are in a rock band. Otherwise, they might have ended up being arsonists. The four-piece rock group from Canada wowed the crowd with fireballs, explosions, fireworks and 90 minutes of hard-hitting rock on their return to the Manchester Apollo Monday June 14th. The air was electric as the lights went down and over the roar of the crowd, the sound effects kicked in of a helicopter which echoed around the venue, then with a blast of the pyrotechnics the band appeared, using every inch of the stage Nickelback gave one hell of a show, pyrotechnics and all. Chad Kroeger holds a crowd well, and a decent amount of the gig involves him talking to everyone, Which began with him shouting into his mic í¢ä‰åñIts great to be back in the uk and we love playing here in Manchesterí¢ä‰åŒ.The band had already prommoted the latest albumí¢ä‰åŒThe Long Roadí¢ä‰åŒon their visit to the Manchester Apollo in December 2003,So the fans had a fantastic set,with extra tracks from í¢ä‰åñThe Stateí¢ä‰åŒ,í¢ä‰åŒand í¢ä‰åñSilver Side Up.í¢ä‰åŒ Opening up with í¢ä‰åñFlat On The Floorí¢ä‰åŒ from the í¢ä‰åñThe Long Roadí¢ä‰åŒ lead singer Chad Kroeger and company had most of the audience of mainly teens and Thirty somethings on their feet throughout. It was here that Chad Kroeger, drummer Ryan Vikedal, guitarist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger turned things up. í¢ä‰åñWhere Do I Hideí¢ä‰åŒ,And favourite at every show they perform and to the delight of the fans in the front row especially,Where Chad Kroeger ran up and downstage with with a camcorder, taping the hordes for future DVD releases. The rest of Nickelback Including í¢ä‰åñTimmy í¢ä‰åñ accompanied Kroeger for the acoustic version of “Hero,”Chad’s solo contribution to the “Spider-Man” soundtrack.which had the crowds roar of approval. It was tough, however, to gear down from ballads following the cries of Peake’s Flying-V through thick smoke on “Woke Up This Morning,”Kroeger let the crowd take over the chorus which at some point sounded louder than the thousands of decibels that hung either side of the stage Not to be outdone, Peake and Mike Kroeger later stood on risers that put them high over the crowd. Another highlight was í¢ä‰åñFigured You Outí¢ä‰åŒ, Which has been under some good and bad reviews here in UK for the somewhat Provocative lyrics, nevertheless the crowd loved it Kroeger then ripped into a cover of Metallica, s í¢ä‰åñSad But Trueí¢ä‰åŒwhich whipped the crowd into a frenzy of thrashing arms and the famous index and fore finger salute, Nickelback did the track more than justice because, despite appearing on face value to be just another rock band, they really do cut it live. Following a brief beer break, í¢ä‰åñBeer o clock í¢ä‰åñas its known where Kroeger accompanied by Bass player Mike tossed plastic pint pots of beer into the audience, even reaching into the seated top tier of the venue, the group then tore into the homestretch with the punch of í¢ä‰åñToo Badí¢ä‰åŒ The highlight, aside from the beer, was í¢ä‰åñNever Againí¢ä‰åŒ. It began with the sounds of an argument echoing around the venue descending into violence before kicking into one of the best live tracks you’ll hear. And, of course, there were more fireworks and series of explosions. But there are few better ways to end a show than with an encore of í¢ä‰åñHow You Remind Meí¢ä‰åŒ, especially when 3,000 take the vocals for most of the song, This seems to be the í¢ä‰åñBohemian Rhapsodyí¢ä‰åŒ of their shows, The pyrotechnics here excelled, which ended on one huge mushroom cloud of flame and smoke. It was here the show drew a close with the band throwing Guitar picks and drumsticks into the crowd. Fans left the venue Hot, beer stained from í¢ä‰åñthe beer oclockí¢ä‰åŒ flush faced and with no voices hardly but deleriously happy. Nickelback left to retire to the tour buses for the long journey to Glasgow to play their next show I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with the band earlier in the day and they really are the nicest bunch of guys you could ever wish to meet, and I can’t recommend them highly enough. You feel part of the experience when they perform but far enough away to really appreciate just how good the band is. Pretentious rock stars take note – these guys know how to treat their fans, gladly signing autographs and posing for photos before and after the show. Perfect gentlemen, perfect music, perfect show.” 10/10 Joanne Shields