Don’t ask us how, why or when, but once upon a time, long, long ago, half the world decided that they didn’t like Nickelback and that’s just the way it’s been ever since.
In fact, they’re probably one of the most Marmite acts, not to mention most memed bands on the planet – they even have a new documentary called Hate to Love – but we’re here to put a stop to that today.
Who knows what it was that put a bee in the collective bonnet when it came to Nickelback all those years ago, all we know is that we’re bored of it and you shouldn’t waste a second more of your life pretending to hate them.
This isn’t even a guilty pleasure thing: we have absolutely no shame in ‘confessing’ that we think Nickelback are mint and their gig at the AO Arena in Manchester on Monday night proved it.
Exhibit A: it all started with an absolutely perfect choice of support act in The Lottery Winners. While you could argue their brand of indie rock doesn’t necessarily line up with what you’d expect most Nickelback fans to listen to, their pop sensibility and love of proper catchy hooks definitely do.
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The local band from just down the road in Leigh continue to be one of our favourite Manchester bands at the minute not least because of their banter and energy up on the stage.
Yes, their tunes are great and we particularly loved the audience participation they got going for ‘Start Again’ (we would have really loved Frank Turner to suddenly appear for his bit), but it was Tom’s effortless Manc chat and jokey but sincere energy throughout the set that won over the crowd.
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By the time they were about to leave the stage they managed to get the crowd jumping arguably just as much as they did when the headliners came out. Speaking of…
After a short little intro from a running VT of a getaway van leading a police chase that looked like a cutscene from some kind of late 2000s PS3 trailer (you just have to chuckle at the over-the-top Americana of it all), they erupted on stage to kick things into fifth gear.
They say Canadians are famously polite but there was nothing reserved about this entrance; they smashed the doors down to set the arena to full party mode with banger after banger and, honestly, we forgot just how many they had.
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It’s not often you hear this phase unironically, but this was, as Chad put it, a good old fashioned ‘rock show’ and the roughly 20,000 fans were all ‘rocking out’ from start to finish.
The four-piece were very much enjoying a little bit of naughtiness from the Manchester crowd too, with the camera panning to a woman holding a sign that read ‘I like my pants around my feet’ – the first line from ‘Figured It Out’ – to which the frontman replied, “me too” before proceeding to play the song in full.
Those little moments of funny nonsense didn’t stop there either – not even close.
From jokingly introing the song as ‘Look at this graaaph’ and confessing that they do have the internet, to getting a member of the crew on stage to serve shots as they got the crowd to chant his name, they were just having fun and throwing some very good tunes in between.
That slightly odd and nostalgic visualiser kept popping up in the background every now and again too but the icing on the cake had to be when they got a literal Chad Kroeger lookalike on stage to sing ‘Rockstar’ with them.
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You’ve not quite lived until you’ve seen a somewhat tipsy Manc with the original long, blonde Nickelback hair in a black band tee tucked into blue jeans and a big shiny belt buckle genuinely make the actual bloke from Nickelback want to grow his back.
A shining moment
There were lots of highlights and particularly memorable moments to pick out amongst all the fun.
Be it rhythm guitarist Ryan Peake explaining how the QR code on the screen was to help raise funds for wells in the third world before they played ‘When We Stand Together’, or hearing everyone roll back the years as they raspily sang ‘How You Remind Me’, we were spoilt for choice.
Watching the AO Arena bouncing to ‘Burn It to The Ground’ was also up there with some of the standouts, but there was no more beautiful sight than seeing the band bring The Lottery Winners back out on stage to have an arena full of Mancs belting out ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.
Chad said at the time, “Now we know you can sing”, and true to form we were in full voice from that moment on, singing every word, every line and every song from what suddenly felt like a greatest hits tour because the truth is, Nickelback are great and you’re just lying to yourself if you think otherwise.
We were slightly gutted we didn’t get to hear ‘This Means War’, ‘Never Gonna Be Alone’ and a fair few others, but that’s what happens when you take a band that has been around for nearly three decades, with a discography this rich, and try to cram everything into a couple of hours.
So we’re hoping that puts an end to his nonsense that the rock veterans are rubbish because they’re not, they’re mint. Come on, join us – the dark days are over and we’re saying it’s ok to admit you like them.
And just wait, we’re coming for you Coldplay haters next…
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Supplied (via AO Arena)
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Placebo are returning to Manchester with a special re-worked album tour for their 30th anniversary
Danny Jones
Placebo are coming back to Manchester city centre for a very special anniversary show celebrating their seminal debut album, which will be re-worked 30 years on from its release.
The beloved British alt-rock band, which first broke onto the indie, post-glam and pseudo-goth scene back in the mid-1990s, haven’t played here since November 2022, so it’s fair to say fans have been waiting for a return.
Last time out, they played the AO Arena, but this year they’ll be making a maiden visit to one of Europe’s biggest indoor entertainment venues.
Announcing the ‘RE:CREATED‘ re-release of their debut album and the accompanying anniversary tour this week, tickets are set to go on sale very soon.
Confirming just a handful of UK shows this December following a more extensive European run in autumn and winter 2026, they are the latest big rock name to book Co-op Live.
Placebo’s self-titled debut album, RE:CREATED
As mentioned, Placebo RE:CREATED features “powerful reworked and embellished versions of all ten tracks from the original album”, as well as two new bonus tracks.
The group say that these new songs are sort of like an ‘amplification’ of what made their inaugural studio outing such a success in the first place.
Speaking in an official statement, they said: “We think of this record as a director’s cut. We haven’t recreated it from scratch. We went back to the original master tapes and brought 30 years of playing these songs live back into the record.
“This project was about finally finishing the record, dragging it into the 21st century sonically, while preserving the integrity and the spirit of the original. It’s not about improving it; there’s nothing wrong with it – it’s about completing it.”
Signing off and getting tails up ahead of the tour, they added: “It’s a celebration of where we began, and a meeting point between who we were then and who we are now; a way of honouring that innocence, while letting the songs exist with the scale, confidence, and energy of the band we’ve become”.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Placebo: 30th Anniversary Tour Playing songs from ‘Placebo’ & ‘Without You I’m Nothing' Friday 4 December https://t.co/qwOm3NNGQH @coopuk members get first in line for tickets. Co-op Member Presale: 09:00 Wednesday 25 March General Sale: 09:00 Friday 27 March pic.twitter.com/MO72ui1ntW
It remains to be seen who, if anyone, will be supporting them for the limited run of domestic shows, but it has been revealed that they will also be playing some fan favourite songs from their sophomore LP, Without You I’m Nothing. You can see the rest of the gigs here in Britain and Ireland down below:
Placebo UK tour dates 2026
2 – Dublin, Ireland – 3 Arena 4th – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live Arena 5th – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley 7th – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
For those looking to secure early access, you can do so by pre-ordering the album (which drops on 19 June), with the pre-sale window opening at 9am on 24 March.
As for general admission, they will be available from the same time the following Friday, 27 March.
You can get ready to grab your tickets to see Placebo at Co-op Live in Manchester for their 30th anniversary gig right HERE.
They’re not the only big rock name that first back in the 90s set for a big Manc arena show this year.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied via SJM Concerts)
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Review | What we made of Country 2 Country 2026, and why Manchester should be very excited
Danny Jones
Excuse me, but it looks like we might have a new favourite festival on the cards: Country 2 Country – and it’s very rare we gig in London and enjoy ourselves anyway near as much as we do up North, but now we’re already dreaming of just how good C2C Manchester could be.
In fact, scratch that, we know it is.
Billed as Europe’s biggest country music festival, there really isn’t anything quite like it here. Yes, there’s Buckle & Boots Festival closer to home, but there’s nothing in the folk and country world on this kind of massive scale, unless you go all the way to see the actual CMA Fest over in the US.
London’s also been lucky enough to host some very big names at BST Hyde Park too, but this fully-fledged arena weekender, complete with an outdoor festival hub, town square, trading post, a barn full of line-dancers, and SO much more, celebrates every single part of that culture.
By day, the aim is to make a little country town, complete with shops, food, drink and music aplenty. (Credit: Audio North)
But… We think the North can do it better.
So too did some of the acts and punters as well, by the way; we spoke to several people on-site who’d made the trip from all over because it was closer than Glasgow, Belfast or Berlin.
Up-and-coming British country rock artist, Bronnie – who was literally hours away from a move across the pond to pursue her dreams of living the cowgirl turned music artist experience down in the Southern states – said simply: “There’s always this feeling like there’s more fun to be had up North”
Moreover, the friends she’s already made over in America’s ‘Music City’, she says, have claimed that “the vibes are just better”, apparently. Not to sound too biased, but we obviously couldn’t agree more.
However, with the news that C2C is coming to Manchester city centre and Northern England for the very first time, people are already hopping mad at the idea of a Manc debut.
That’s to say that what The O2 in London isn’t special and will always be to most punters, we just know full well that our particular region is going to take to this new annual event like a duck to water.
A lot of the people we spoke to kept repeating the same: that working class connection, simple but relatable imagery, the pure poetry you’ll find not only in Nashville but creative cousins like Manchester.
The Broadway strip in Austin may be the spiritual home of this kind of music, but we Greater Mancunians lay claim to plenty of genres and some of the biggest artistic traditions ourselves.
With that in mind, we are convinced we’re going to leave a lasting impression when our inaugural Country 2 Country Festival comes to the AO Arena next year.
Our line dancing might leave a little to be desired, but we’ve got a whole year to work on it, not to mention plenty of time to dive even further into the UK’s growing country music obsession.
You can see more pictures from our 2026 C2C gallery down below.
Country fashion was everywhereThe official CMA Spotlight Stage was one of the bestNo one shyed away from a partyKruse Brothers were one of our favourite from the weekendAlana Springsteen was incredibleAnd by the evening, it’s a proper hedonist hoedown… (Credit: The Manc)
Danny Jones -
21st May 2024 
