Nickelback keeps things hot in concert

PORTLAND – Nickelback gave all the fans packed into the Cumberland County Civic Center their two cents’ worth and then some on Tuesday night

It felt like a sauna inside as Hinder, Three Days Grace and Hoobastank warmed up the nearly sold-out crowd.

Even the Canadian quartet’s lead singer, Chad Kroeger, commented on the high temperatures more than once, but that didn’t stop the chart-topping guitarist from singeing his guitar strings and laying down a lot of hot licks along with his fellow jeans and T-shirt-clad guitarist bandmates – Ryan Peake and Mike Kroeger – while new drummer-vocalist Daniel Adair pounded the Pearl drums so hard they nearly smoked.

The last thing the arena needed was more smoke, however, as fans were treated to a pleasing pyrotechnic display that punctuated the bass and was perfectly timed to accentuate the dramatic crescendos and climaxes in the music. The quartet’s use of flames, lasers, lights, smoke, spark showers and other fireworks would have made the members of Kiss proud.

In all, Nickelback played 14 songs in an 85-minute set in which they took no breaks – save for a solid four-minute drum solo by Adair and a short period spent shooting T-shirts into the crowd – and played loud and strongly.

It was apparent that the groups spared no expense when it came to equipment because the sound was thunderous yet crystal clear with zero distortion and no feedback. This was bone-jarring bass which made you feel your rib cage vibrating, yet every word either spoken or sung by Kroeger and his bandmates was easily understood. Too bad more groups couldn’t duplicate this effort.

Nickelback stoked the fire with their widely played “Photograph,” a No. 1 single from current album “All the Right Reasons.” That was followed by another hit, “Far Away,” before they melded a few riffs from early album “Curb” in a mix that was sound, solid and simply scorching.

The temperature didn’t dip as “Never Again,” a huge hit from album “Silver Side Up” was next followed by mellow “Savin’ Me,” smash “Someday,” “How You Remind Me,” “Too Bad” and a tribute to deceased former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott. The encore featured “Rockstar” and “Figured You Out.”

Quartet Hoobastank also delivered, cramming nine songs into a 35-minute set featuring hits “Crawling in the Dark” and “The Reason” as well as a solid rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.”

Overall, there was little to complain about with this four-hour event. Two things were regrettable, however: the arena’s choice to use a general admission format for the show, putting the onus on fans to arrive early and storm their way to the best seats; and the absence of “Feelin Way Too Damn Good” from Nickelback’s playlist.

Oh well, nobody’s perfect.