Sunday afternoon, sweaty Houstonians and more gathered within the grounds of The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for a night of good ol’ country and rock music for Nickelback’s “Get Rollin” tour. Also on the bill for the night was Brantley Gilbert and Josh Ross for that extra kick of pure country tunes. The pavilion was packed and full of excited fans for what was in store for the rest of the evening. The lines for merch and drinks were the longest I’ve ever seen them and everywhere I turned there was someone already wearing themselves a Nickelback tee. The energy within the venue was incredible, everyone was smiling from ear to ear and I instantly knew the night ahead was going to be an absolute blast. But, I mean it’s Nickelback.. We all know they put on amazing shows.
Canadian Country star Josh Ross joined the blue lit stage and opened his 8-song set with “Tall Boys”. The crowd was already singing along with him, which obviously made him even more pumped up and excited to where he looked like a little kid in a candy store. Ross is effortlessly rising in the country music scene in both Canada and the United States and making an impact to fans with his talented songwriting and emotion-filled voice. It’s only a matter of time before he’s bigger and playing even larger shows. Continuing with other singles “Red Flags”, “Ain’t Doing Jack” and more, the band as a whole were impressively in tune with one another and the sound radiating from the stage was perfectly pitched. Ross seems like a very passionate person when it comes to his music, you can easily tell that this is his life and that he’s ready for that road of never ending success.
Adding more country to the mix, Georgia born, “Son Of The South” Brantly Gilbert was next and ready to really start kicking things into gear. Starting his set with “Kick It In The Sticks” along with blazing pyro behind him, the crowd went absolutely nuts… everyone was up and out of their chairs and the lawn behind me was full of hands in the air. I couldn’t help but notice all of the screaming ladies around me, all googly eyed and geeking out over the sight of Gilbert… Everyone seriously loves this dude… especially the ladies. Mixing his set with more fire, military tributes, and political talks, he knew exactly what to do to get this Texan crowd rowdy. Gilbert played a vast majority of his well known catalog along with many popular cover songs from various artists including ‘Kenny Wayne Shepherd’, ‘Collective Soul’, and even a little bit of ‘Godsmack’. This was actually a nice little touch to his set as someone who doesn’t really listen to his music. I was genuinely impressed. Finishing his time on stage with songs “Take it outside” and “Read My Rights” I have to say, Brantly Gilbert and his band really knows how to hype up their crowd in all the right ways. These guys are the perfect dose of loud and proud and I can definitely understand the meaning of them opening for Nickelback.
It was finally time for what everyone was really there to see, the world’s most famously “infamous” band to probably ever exist…Canadian rock gurus, Nickelback. The guys who always find themselves in the middle of controversy, but still make millions doing so. I’ve never understood the hate of this band, and probably never will. But that’s a whole other discussion I’m not going to dive into because I am here to focus on the music and their overall performance. Plus, we’ve already covered that I’m a longtime fan of Nickelback, so it’s pretty obvious where I stand on that matter. The stage finally went dark and out came the band to an extremely cheerful audience to start playing “San Quentin” from their 10th and newest album ‘Get Rollin’. Each band member was pumped up about being in Houston, and Chad made sure to remind everyone frequently throughout the night and Houstonians would scream right back at him that they loved him too. One thing I will say about Chad, is, he is extremely engaging with his fans and crowd. He talks to everyone constantly throughout the show, probably more than any other band I have witnessed live before. He just genuinely loves chatting it up with them… so there were lots of discussions that took place within the set, ranging from cancel culture, being a meme sensation, and past tour shenanigans. Nickelback played many top hits including “Far Away”, “Animals”, and “Figured You Out” with a little break to mix in with cover song – Texas style “CopperHead Road”, Everyone who lives in Texas loses their minds when this song comes on, so needless to say… the crowd ate it up. An attendee was lucky enough to be able to join the stage during “Rockstar” and both the attendee and everyone in Nickelback was having a blast. More pyro also made its appearance on stage which definitely added that extra spice to each played hit. The fans sure did enjoy it, as each flame came with hundreds of screams. Everything was on point with their performance, and each time I see these guys live they continue to blow my mind… The visuals, the lights, the fire and everything in between really makes it feel like you’re legitimately at a party. Nickelback style.
Ending the set with “Burn It To The Ground” I looked back and all I could see was everyone having the time of their lives… What more could you ask for in a Sunday night concert?
Even after years and years of hate, Nickelback is still here to prove that they are great musicians, can easily sell out shows, and are still one of the best rock bands in the world.
NICKELBACK
BRANTLEY GILBERT
JOSH ROSS
Photos + Review by Krystie Archer | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!
