Having missed Seal and Norah Jones due to some Day 5 sickness, I was back and ready for action on Day 6. Shinedown and Nickelback were the big acts to see this evening, so I prepared myself for an evening full of good old radio rock material.
Having never really heard much of Shinedown’s music before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from them upon arriving at their stage. Within the first five minutes however, they had me impressed. Vocalist Brent Smith put on a confident performance with an impressive vocal delivery, engaging the audience whenever he could.
“The fact is, we only have one boss, and it’s every single one of you. So if you’re not happy, nobody’s happy,” he said.
Shinedown played a style which had a very cool mix of southern rock, metal, and grunge influences, which definitely pleased my ear more than generic radio rock material ever could. A set highlight of mine was during the encore, when Smith and guitarist Zach Myers returned to the stage to do a long, emotional version of the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Simple Man”. They had the crowd singing along to the southern rock standard in no time, which was very cool to witness. I wished the set wouldn’t have stopped really, as I now had to face my fears with the next act: Nickelback.
Yes, much-maligned Canadian rockers Nickelback were headlining the main stage on Day 6. Their 2001 album “Silverside Up” represented a period of my childhood where I wasn’t too concerned with music, and I was just happy to put that CD on and shoot a few hockey pucks around in my basement. Nowadays, it was clear that you either loved Nickelback or you hated them. The main stage area was filling up fast by the time I had wandered over. Chad Kroeger? More like Chad Cougar: the women age 40 and over were out in droves to witness this, with some even having dragged their husbands along. The band opened with their new song “This Means War” to some ill-timed fireworks. Frontman Chad Kroeger arrived onstage with his lack of blonde locks and a 7-string guitar. As an owner of such an instrument myself, it deeply saddens me that Kroeger has discovered its use in the world of music.
The group then moved into stripper anthem “Something in Your Mouth”, which had all of the women in the audience singing along as their husbands stood silent. Let me tell you, the only thing in my mouth was the vomit I was trying to hold back as Kroeger brought out a glittery Gibson Les Paul guitar to chug out the uninspired main riff. Somebody keep that man away from the Bedazzler!
Kroeger then continued the set, giving the crowd cheers with a red solo cup and declaring it was time for a drinking song. If “Bottoms Up” is your idea of a drinking song, I bet you enjoy warm Canadian in the most rundown bar imaginable. By the time they had gotten to “Rockstar” in the set, I had seen more than enough. On the way out of LeBreton flats, I heard Chad scream to the crowd “Who wants to be a f***ing rock star?” Me, pick me, Chad! But only so I can show those in attendance that there are worthy musical alternatives to your trashy style of rock music.
