It was a not so hot, but incredibly muggy night in Maryland Heights. But, that didn’t stop a slew of music goers from selling out Hollywood Casino Amphitheater for Josh Ross, Brantley Gilbert, and Nickelback. The energy was high, f-bombs a plenty, and the concert resembled a sing along. I dusted off my dance moves from the early 2000s only seen in my bedroom.
Josh Ross came out to a packed house. Most openers at Hollywood don’t get to see the full crowd. Ross didn’t get that treatment. He came out to huge applause.
Brantley Gilbert was given the same treatment. He greeted the crowd with a, “Hey, Missouri, are you ready to raise some Hell?” And they clearly were. He kicked off My Kind of Party by asking the crowd to “Show this Georgia boy how to party the f**k down.” Gilbert thrilled the crowd with hits like Dirt Road Anthem, which he wrote for Colt Ford, Son of the Dirty South, written with Jelly Roll who will come to Hollywood Aug 19, and he covered Bocephus’s A Country Boy Can Survive. One Hell of an Amen was welcomed after he encouraged parents to stop teaching kids that Paw Patrol and Spiderman were the heroes. That those that served our nation deserved the utmost praise.
At 9:12pm Nickelback hit the stage with San Quentin, and the crowd lost it when a highway sign reading “St Louis- 12 parceps” stretched across the video screen. Chad Kroeger said it had been too long since he had been in St. Louis. The crowd was clearly thrilled Nickelback had returned.
During Animals shots of fire enveloped the stage, and then all of sudden, it all stopped. No lights. No fire.
“I’m not going to pretend everything is ok and take your f**king money. I had the doc give me a shot of Prednisone in my hip. But, my voice keeps cracking and I’m just not hitting the notes,” Kroeger apologized.
The crowd accepted his apology, and were immediately ready to move on. Shortly after Josh Ross and Brantley Gilbert joined Nickelback on stage for Copperhead Road. Kroeger then encouraged the crowd by letting them know his meds kicked in, and apologized again for not giving 2 million percent. From there it was straight set of hit after hit: Figured You Out, complete with t-shirt cannons, High Time, and Photograph.
Then local radio station 98.1 contest “Rockstar for a day” winner Nick Sanderson, complete with audacious glasses and mullet wig, joined Nickelback onstage and took his shirt off to sing Rockstar.
“This is for my girlfriend, brother, and my baby. I love y’all.” Sanderson announced before slaying the song.
Seriously, he killed it. 20,000 of my closest friends seemed to agree with me. So did Chad Kroeger who told him how “f**ing fantastic,” he was.
“You just went viral,” said Kroeger.
After How You Remind Me the encore didn’t seem to come. The crowd chanted, “Encore,” and “Nickelback”. The band ended with Gotta Be Somebody, nixing their typical Burn it to the Ground.
This is my 4th time seeing them, and I would rank it right in the middle. The energy was fire, and not just from pyrotechnics. The songs were on point. The crowd was drunk, constantly singing, and completely into it. Definitely not a bad way to spend a Thursday night.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Nickelback: https://photos.archcity.media/Mickolas/Music/Nickelback/Nickelback-at-HCASTL-8323/
Brantley Gilbert: https://photos.archcity.media/Mickolas/Music/Brantley-Gilbert-at-HCASTL-8323/
