Nickelback brings down house with no gimmicks

The Canadian rock quartet pays back fans by playing collection of their classic numbers, rather than trying to sell their new material.

Candian rockers Nickelback have fans on their feet for the entire performance at du Arena on Yas Island last night, at the second After-Race concert. Antonie Robertson / The National

Even before the Canadian rockers Nickelback opened their Formula One after-race concert with This Means War last night, Jessy Rahmy knew she would be singing along at the top of her lungs.

"I came just for Nickelback," said the 23-year-old Australian resident of Abu Dhabi, who stood near the centre of the du Arena stage with her sister Amira, 15.

"I never loved rock before but Nickelback made me love rock."

Decked out in head-to-toe black, lead singer Chad Kroeger kept the thousands-strong crowd jumping with a mix of new tunes and old favourites, including Photograph and Far Away.

"Everybody knows that a good F1 is nothing but a good party," Kroeger shouted.

Brad Bennett, 46, travelled from Dubai just to see the concert, the second of three F1 shows to rock the capital this weekend.

"I'm a rock fan and they're a great rock band," said Mr Bennett, a South African.

The band took to the stage at 9pm and did not let up in a set that was low on theatrics, save for a few laser lights, and included no fewer than four guitar changes for Kroeger.

Although he is "too old to be a Nickelback fan", Briton MP said the weekend had been "the time of my life". "Rockstar, that's the one I want," he said.

MP's wife, TG, bought her husband the F1 tickets for his 50th birthday.

"I came tonight because I like everything new and exciting," TG said. The couple came from Muscat for the festivities. "I usually have to drag him out but he's having a ball."

Dozens of cameras and mobile phones lit up the arena during crowd favourite Rockstar, and thousands of voices joined in the chorus.

"Usually you come to these shows and the band plays the songs they want to promote," said Darren Sadler, a Briton from Dubai. "The good thing about this is that they're actually playing classic tracks."

His friend Peewee Sanchez said Nickelback "really rocked", and she preferred the stripped-back show.

"We're here for the music," Ms Sanchez said. "We don't care about that other stuff, the fireworks or anything."

The guitar-heavy hit Burn it to the Ground had a sea of people jumping and cheering at the front of the stage at the close of the show.

Canadian Debbie Mueller, 45, had one word to sum up the concert: "Awesome. Just awesome."

Ms Mueller came from Dubai to support the band and did not stop dancing through the 90-minute set.

"I love them. I'm from Canada, so these guys are my homeboys," she said. "It was a beautiful performance, an excellent show."

The After-Race concerts conclude tonight with Eminem.