YouTube Live: Nickelback gets rocked in Portugal (2007)
Nickelback is one of the top selling rock bands on the planet and yet I can’t think of a single person I know who likes them. Sure, I have a few friends here and there that have a copy of Silver Side Up or The State in the cobwebbed corners of their high school record collection, but for the most part, it seems that despite the band’s megastar status, there are very few who actually call themselves fans. This is apparently a global trend, as exemplified by the following YouTube clip:
I know, I know. This sucker was released over a year ago. I’m not trying to pass this off as some new-found, milestone footage in the world of rock criticism, but it raises some very interesting issues concerning musicians and the people who love (or hate) them.
In case you weren’t able to view the clip, the band is playing a live show in Portugal, clunking through the end of one of their sluggish, dinosaur pseudo-ballads when the crowd goes apeshit, booing and throwing assorted concert-tossing paraphernalia. The nail in the coffin comes when, after asking the crowd if they want to continue to hear their music, Ramen Noodle-haired frontman Chad Kroeger actually gets pegged in the head with a rock, prompting the band to swiftly leave the stage.
Funny, right? I thought it was at first. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Chad Kroeger get wailed by a piece of 
gravel while playing his shitty, shitty music? But as the days grew longer, the image settled in my bones, making me question how laughable this clip truly is. Although many music fans (myself included) may not particularly enjoy Nickelback’s overly generic brand of nu metal, does the band really deserve such heckling while putting on their show? And I know many of you out there are thinking: “Yes! Of course they do! Nickelback sucks, so fuck them!” But should something as insignificant as what kind of music they play and something as subjective as whether or not you like it justify them getting pummeled with rocks while they practice their art?
Let’s face it, none of us truly know any of the members in Nickelback (well, maybe you do, and if that’s the case, perhaps you can shed some light on this debate). And who knows, maybe they are sincere dickheads to their core - unabashed bros that resemble the legions of frat guys who listen to them. Then again, maybe they’re just laid back, perfectly nice Canadian dudes who wouldn’t wish harm on anyone, including the good people of Portugal. Or maybe, like most of us, they’re somewhere in between.
Either way, most of us don’t know enough about them as people to decide whether or not they deserve what’s exhibited in the concert clip. And yes, they’re rockstars, they have lots of money, they screw lots of chicks, they have lifestyles that most of us only dream of having, which means they should have to pay the small price for fame. But should that price be getting shit thrown at you while you’re trying to do what you love?
My point is fans often assume that an artist’s music reflects their personality. If they think the band is good, then the members of the band must be cool as hell. If the band sucks, they must be arrogant pricks, and any bad treatment bestowed upon them must be well deserved. If what had happened to Nickelback had happened to, say, Radiohead or Wilco, fans would be up in arms about it rather than laughing at it on YouTube as I did a year ago. As far as I know, none of the members of Nickelback have gotten press coverage for doing anything horrendously awful, but they get publicly stoned. To Kroeger’s credit, he actually handles himself quite pleasantly in the clip. Rather than spout off at the crowd or counteract with violence, he simply asks if they still want to hear music, gets zonked in the head, says goodbye and walks offstage. Many of my favorite artists (I’m looking at you, Ryan Adams) have acted much less rationally in tamer situations of crowd protest.
I’m not saying Adams deserves to get pegged with rocks either. Unless they’re causing harm to someone else while they’re playing, I don’t think any musical artist (or any performer for that matter) should be abused onstage (unless that’s their gimmick). So until the day G.G. Allin gets resurrected, please, fans, start viewing your most loved or hated musicians as human beings instead of cardboard cutouts of their music, however shitty it may be. After all, rock stars are people too.
On June 22, 2006 at around 2 a.m. Kroeger was pulled over by the RCMP in Surrey for speeding. A breathalyzer-type test later showed a blood alcohol level of .14, over the legal limit of .08. Kroeger’s lawyer, Marvin Stern, attempted to have the results of the later test ruled inadmissible as evidence on the grounds that the request to blow into the officer’s face constituted an illegal search and seizure. The judge accepted that the search was illegal. Nevertheless, on March 4, 2008 the judge rejected the request to rule the evidence inadmissible.[5] On April 1, 2008, Kroeger was convicted for driving with a blood-alcohol concentration over .08. On May 1, 2008, the court sentenced him to pay a $600 fine and prohibited him from driving for one year.[6]
Straight from Wikipedia. I had a friend who died as a result of drinking and driving. And if your going to ask me whether i have ever done the same, the answer is no, cause i’ve never had a liscence. So if you ask me, this dickhead does deserve to be pelted in the head for that reason alone. You’re rich enough, higher a chauffeur or call a cab buddy. Fuck Chad Kroeger! I’m a Canadian now living in their home province and I think he can suck it also because at the start of their careers they also were hailed for Vancouver and accepted it, not correcting journalists on the fact that they were actually an Albertan band. People who don’t want to recognize where their from because they think it will hurt their success are spineless bastards that don’t support the people who actually supported them from the very start. Do you think that anybody from Vancouver actually gave a fuck about these guys when “The State” came out? Probably not, but the people of Hanna, Alberta probably cared that they didn’t even get a sniff of mention from their support of their hometown boys for so long.
Take in mind these are my personal values, but if you:
1. Drink and Drive
2. Disrespect where you’re from
I will consider that these guys are dicks and i will be the 1st in line to throw rocks at them if I ever have the chance.
“Straight from wikipedia.”
way to go the route of credible sources man. i’m in no way bashing your values, nor am i condoning the acts of ultra-douche Kroeger (or of listening to his music), but if you want any of us to take you seriously, don’t go off quoting the wiki.
that said, i don’t think these guys deserve to have rocks thrown at them. i’d be pissed if people threw rocks at me for playing music that i made (even if it is super-generic, mega-lame “rock”). i feel like a well aimed tomato would have sufficed.
I hate Nickleback for sure and each time im down i watch this clip and laugh my ass of. Two things make me hate this band, the fact that Chad Kroeger compared nickleshit to Nirvana and Joy division. Also he admitted to sucking his own dick when he was 14. Seriouly look that up.
I could watch that clip all day long!
Hey Nick, I could have gone to Canada’s Court Documentations but then that would mean going to Vancouver going to the provinces Court Records. Scanning the hard copies to a computer then submitting them to CoS. Which I think is a little crazy just to prove to you why Nickelback suck. Sourcing Wikipedia was easier cause I know peopl can put whatever they want on there. But as far as him drinking and driving I saw it on the news so I could probably find some Clip on YOUTUBE if you wanted but I’m not as stupid as you, as to defend Nickelback. I hope in your afterlife that you are forced to listed to “How You Remind Me” on repeat.
huh, apparently calling their lead singer an ultra douche and saying its ok to throw certain kinds of shit at them is defending them. you’ve figured me out, moron.
reread your response. half of your sentences make no sense whatsoever. i still can’t really tell if you’re trying to prove me wrong or just trying to make yourself look more and more like an idiot.
“Sourcing Wikipedia was easier cause i know peopl can put whatever they want on there.” That’s exactly why you shouldn’t use Wikipedia brainiac!
I never really defended Nickelback (except for the part about not throwing rocks, which i still believe. they’re making music they love, if you don’t like it then let them know. there’s no need for physical violence).
finally, just to prove how easy it is to get a more credible source, i present to you 3 stories from legit sources that i found in 2 minutes (2 of which are from Canadian news agencies).
from the CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/04/01/bc-nickelback-impaired-conviction.html?ref=rss
from the Vancouver Sun:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=261a8793-cd24-4e6b-8e75-5a5849444666&k=21485
from People Magazine:
http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:ChadKroeger,00.html