Nickelback headed to Vancouver Island for the first time in 20 years this summer

Nickelback to play in B.C.

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Nickelback will play their first concert on Vancouver Island in 20 years this summer — one that has the potential to set an attendance record in the region.

The veteran Vancouver group, which is among the bestselling rock acts of all-time, is appearing at the newly named Laketown Amphitheatre in Lake Cowichan on Aug. 9. Nickelback has not performed on Vancouver Island since Aug. 19-20, 2005, when the How You Remind Me and Photograph hitmakers played two shows at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.

At the site near Youbou known as Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park, the summer concert will have a capacity of 15,000, according to organizers Wideglide Entertainment, which owns and operates the property. In the event of a sellout, Nickelback would set the record for the largest paid concert attendance in Vancouver Island concert history, breaking the 2018 record of 13,500 attendees set by Eric Church at Sunfest.

Mike Hann of Wideglide Entertainment said the band is aware of the potential for a record-setting performance and is aiming to wow audiences. “The production values Nickelback are bringing to the stage will be more than any other concert ever held at our site. It will be a level up, production-wise.”

The concert, Hann said, is part of a new vision for the venue. The Duncan-based live event company announced in January it was rebranding the 260-acre site and moving in a direction that pairs the annual Sunfest country music festival (which runs July 31-Aug. 3 this year) with larger one-off events. The timing could not have been better for the switch, Hann said. “We’re not reinventing the wheel. There are permanent venues across North American doing the exact same thing. But we are playing to our strengths. This is an example of why we made that change.”

Opening acts for the Nickelback concert on Aug. 9 are the Glorious Sons and Sam Roberts Band, with a kick-off party headlined by Campbell River resident Garret T. Willie on the site’s Flats Stage set for Aug. 8.

Nickelback (originally from tiny Hanna, Alberta) has been maligned for its radio-friendly and ballad-heavy output in recent years, though the band remains a sales and streaming juggernaut, with over 50 million records sold during its career, more than four billion views on YouTube and more than 10 billion streams on platforms such as Spotify, in addition to nominations for six Grammy Award nominations and 40 Juno Awards, of which they’ve won 13.

The band enjoyed a rebirth of sorts with the 2023 documentary, Hate to Love: Nickelback, which appeared to shift the public perception of singer-guitarist Chad Kroeger, drummer Daniel Adair, bassist Mike Kroeger, and guitarist-singer Ryan Peake.

The band cut its teeth in small bars on Vancouver Island starting in 1996, shortly after their formation. A pair of Nickelback concerts at the former Memorial Arena in 2002 were among the last ever at the Victoria venue, prior to its demolition in 2003. The band has not given a local concert since joining the ranks of the top concert draws in North America.

“Nickelback was asking why they hadn’t played the Island is 20 years,” Hann said. “They were expressing a curiosity and desire to get back on the Island, because a big part of their origin story was playing out here.”

Tickets and camping passes go on sale Friday, March 21, at 9 a.m. through laketownamphitheatre.com.