Nickelback review at Utilita Arena Birmingham – ‘this is a band that will never be undone’

Nickelback rocked the Utilita Arena tonight as they stopped in Birmingham to play to thousands of screaming fans on their Get Rollin’ World Tour.

After a hugely successful 2023 run in North America, the award-winning rock band made their way through Europe – and Birmingham tonight was their last stop in the UK before they move to Amsterdam on Sunday.

There was a huge wait before the Canadian rock stars arrived on stage – preceded by UK indie-rock band Lottery Winners. Just as the concert was about to start, a video suddenly appeared on giant screens backstage, showing images of Nickelback members Chad, Mike, Ryan and Daniel on “Wanted – Dead or Alive” posters. A bright yellow tour van was then followed through the streets by a dozen police cars right in Birmingham.

Read more: Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger stops Birmingham show and jumps off stage to join fan

Nickelback immediately opened with San Quentin, one of the songs from their latest album Get Rollin’. This is the band’s first album in five years, due out in November 2022. The vibe in the arena was electric, fans were already on their feet, singing and dancing along. You could tell it was already going to be a brilliant show.

Singer Chad Kroeger, 49, was very relaxed throughout the concert. I went to see it with my partner David who was last on The Hits Tour in 2013 – he said tonight’s show was much more fun. Chad seemed in his element, having fun with the crowd and loving the whole experience. It was amazing to watch.

“What’s going on with Birmingham?” he told a screaming crowd. It’s nice to be back. That was very welcome, that was. Why did it take us so long to get back to Birmingham? The theme for tonight is we want everyone to sing together.”

Savin’ Me followed, followed by Far Away and Animal, which had people jumping on their feet in the crowd. It came the day after, from the 2003 album The Long Road. This was followed by Worthy To Say.

Chad, his brother and guitarist Mike Kroeger and fellow guitarist Ryan Peake spent much of the show having fun on stage and chatting – along with Daniel Adair on drums. There’s a lot I can’t repeat here, especially what Mike shouted to the audience (if you were there you know what I mean!), but I spent a lot of the concert laughing – which I wasn’t expecting. It was tons of fun.

Chad loved interacting with the audience and spent time reading the signs fans brought to support them. A woman in the front row had a sign that read “Please can you sing SEX” and he obliged by singing a little part of it, much to everyone’s delight.

Another had a sign that read: “Is this my 40th show Chad hugs? and jumped down a few songs later to embrace it for sure.

The band also performed Figure You Out and When We Stand Together – which came with a video detailing the work of the charity they support, the Obakki Foundation. One of their first hits, Where Do I Hide, followed. This afternoon followed close behind, before Nickelback then invited support act The Lottery Winners back on stage to sing Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis with them – brilliant.

Next came the photo, followed by Rockstar’s 2005 hit. The band invited a random fan (Go Dan!) up on stage to sing it with them, and he really gave it his all. The crowd was amazing, cheering him on.

Chad shouted, “They’ve been trying to write us off for 20 goddamn years and it hasn’t worked yet.”

Those Days, from their new album, came after Rockstar, followed by How You Remind Me – my favorite song of the night. It’s a brilliant piece – but it sounded a million times better live. It was the best feeling, singing the lyrics with thousands of other like-minded Nickelback fans. A highlight of our night.

The band returned for an encore after much shouting and stamping and played Gotta Be Somebody and Burn It To The Ground – a stunningly incredible way to end a fantastic evening.

Chad added: “It’s our last show in the UK tonight – so glad we’re spending it with you.” This is a band that will simply never be written off – the Get Rollin’ tour proved that.

Get tickets to Nickelback as they head across Europe via Ticketmaster.