Nickelback
Frontman Hopes To Disappear By Year's End
Chad Kroeger wants nothing more than to sit on
the beach, drink daiquiris. by Jon Wiederhorn
Having toured in support of his band's latest album for
eight months, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger has been thinking a lot about
vacation lately. During a recent week off, he even simulated an exotic getaway
by building a cliff next to his pool
in Vancouver and then
throwing a cliff-diving party.
"I was just asking for someone to kill themselves so I could give away
everything I've worked so hard to enjoy," he said. Considering all the
drinking that was going on, Kroeger was lucky there were no fatalities —
just a bunch of hangovers and sunburns, and a broken nose. "Someone
jumped off this cliff into the shallow end and smashed their nose at the
bottom of the pool," Kroeger said. "But no lawsuit is pending."
Even if a police complaint were to be filed, Kroeger might be hard to track
down. On Sunday, Nickelback will head to Lisbon, Portugal, to play Rock in Rio
- Lisbon, and for the next three weeks the band will perform at numerous other
European festivals. Then, after an 11-day break, the group will begin a U.S.
tour with 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd and Thornley, the first signing to
Kroeger's new record label.
After Nickelback wrap up their road adventure on September 4 in Seattle at the
Bumbershoot Festival, Kroeger plans to ride into the sunset for about six
months.
"I think Chad needs a break," Kroeger said. "Right now, I'm
really interested in enjoying where I'm at in life. I don't ever want to look
back on this and go, 'Geez, when I was 29 and we were having such a ball, why
didn't I just take off to some island somewhere and grow a beard and lay low?'
I'm having a blast right now touring and making music, and I don't ever want
to be standing onstage going, 'God, I hate this f---ing song. What am I doing
here?' So I'm gonna take a break for a while so I can come back and appreciate
it all over again."
At this point, Kroeger has no firm plans for his downtime, but he hopes to do
something extravagant. "I want to drink pina coladas and strawberry
daiquiris on every continent," he said. "Rich kids get to do it
after high school. I was never a rich kid, so this is my chance."
It might seem a little ironic that Kroeger wants to make big plans to see the
world mere weeks after he'll return from a thorough European tour. However,
that's exactly why his travel feet are getting itchy. Even though he's been to
Europe, Asia and South America over the past year, he's got little to show for
it.
"Every time I get off the plane, I'm always like, 'What time is
soundcheck? When do we get to eat?' " he said. "I've seen the inside
of hotels and arenas all over the world and that's not a cool way to travel.
People are like, 'Dude, what's Tokyo like?' And I say, 'Gee, I wish I could
tell you.' "
While Kroeger hasn't been able to see the sights, he has built up a treasure
trove of memories — like the one from Adelaide, Australia, earlier this
month. "We were playing this arena and I think Kiss were going to be
there the next day," Kroeger recalled. "So while I'm in the dressing
room warming up, Gene Simmons walks in and says, 'Hey fellas, how long until
you guys go on?' I was like, 'You've gotta be kidding me. Is the God of
Thunder really standing in my dressing room asking what time we go on?' That,
to me, is totally insane."
