Why Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger Thinks Even the Haters Will Go See Upcoming Pantera Shows

Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger is talking about the upcoming Pantera shows, saying that even those Pantera fans hating on the idea of a so-called "comeback tour" will be at the show.

Speaking on the LA Lloyd Podcast about the Pantera tour that features original members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown, adding Zakk Wylde on lead guitar and Charlie Benante behind the kit, Kroeger appears amped for the shows. He says he "wants to see those songs performed live... and scream (them.)"

Kroeger is a longtime fan of the band, as Nickelback recorded a song in 2005 called "Side of a Bullet," inspired by the death of Dimebag Darrell. (Kroeger's lyrics in the chorus are "How could you take his life away / What made you think you had the right? / How could you be so full of hate / To take away somebody's life?")

Kroeger tells Lloyd, "When you listen to a Pantera record and you think to yourself — well, as we thought for the last, I don't know how many years, since the band broke up, it's, like, 'Oh, I'm never gonna get to see these songs live again.' And it's heartbreaking. So the fact that the boys are getting called in from here and there… [I] love Zakk, love Charlie...  great guys. I think the fact that they're gonna get onstage and do this… All Phil has to do is just get up there and crush it...as long as Phil brings it, it's gonna be great. Just to be able to sit back and watch those guys to do it up… And I think all the fans are gonna love it."

Then Kroeger also finds a common thread between some Nickelback fans and those Pantera fans that are potentially sour about doing a "Pantera" show with half the band as replacements for the originals. " Laughing, he says, "Anybody who's sitting back hating on the idea, I think when it comes to town, they're gonna do the same thing that happens with those people that say they don't like Nickelback... They always find themselves at the show. Strangely enough, shocker! It's, like, 'Ah, I hate those guys. They suck.' 'Are you going?' 'Of course.'"

Pantera's first dates on stage in 2022 happen this December, one at the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in Mexico on Dec. 2, and the other three appearances at South American Knotfest shows.

Nickelback, meanwhile, are promoting their upcoming album Get Rollin', which will be released in November, along with their new single "San Quentin." Kroeger recently stopped by Loudwire Nights and told host Toni Gonzalez that people have been pronouncing his name incorrectly for many years and that he never wants to follow a certain band onstage again.

Nickelback's Chad Kroeger Discussing New Pantera Tour on LA Lloyd Podcast