LAKE COWICHAN — A crowd of 15,000 fans gathered for a sizzling day of music at Laketown Amphitheatre on Saturday, with a parade of bands performing in the leadup to headliners Nickelback.
Sam Roberts and The Glorious Sons were among those who played in the afternoon as many in the audience sought shade in the scorching heat.
Jaxxee was a standout, performing an inspired, note-perfect version of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain.
Nickelback arrived on site around 7:30 p.m. for their 10 p.m. show. They last performed on Vancouver Island 20 years ago.
They made up for their long absence with was a propane-fueled, pyrotechnic performance that featured nearly all their hits. That was a pro move by the band, which had a faithful assembly before it, the largest paid concert attendance in Vancouver Island history. The philosophy was more flames, more game.
The evening was a big moment for a local rock singer.
“It’s a pretty insane feeling, getting off stage to a phone call from Nickelback’s tour manager,” said Nevil Meyer, frontman for Victoria’s Trophy Dad, who performed at Laketown on Friday night.
Meyer had staged a campaign to get Nickelback to attend his performance, which they did not. Instead, he was asked to perform with the band during its rendition of Rockstar.
“This was a pretty surreal experience that doesn’t come around too often, so you gotta make the most of it,” Meyer said.
Many fans were seeing Nickelback for the first time, and appeared to know nothing about their early, oft-debated years, when they were considered one of the most hated bands in the world.
A decade removed from such talk, the band was a force, churning out riffs and rockers at a frenetic pace. Frontman Chad Kroeger had no shortage of quips and clearly felt something special was afoot.
“If you’re here with somebody you’re not supposed to be with, let me hear you!!! Kroeger said. It was a sly reference to the Coldplay “kiss‑cam” controversy, where a man and a woman struggled to hide their faces when they appeared on a giant concert screen.
Kroeger then played Photograph using a guitar owned by his father, and the crowd responded to the power.
That’s how Nickelback rolls, real and raw, and very much themselves.
As the concert ended, vehicle traffic around Laketown was re-routed in an effort to ease the way for the giant crowd.
This was a rock concert on a grand scale, capable of affecting urban planning.
