Danko Jones preview

Danko Jones
The Note, Chicago
Friday, May 19, 2006

Everyone we know dislikes Nickelback. The fact that we’ve never met an honest-to-goodness Nickelback fan makes us wonder how the hell they’ve sold a trillion records.

But they do. And when you sell as many CDs as Nickelback do, you sell a lot of freakin’ concert tickets as well. That’s why we can’t blame Danko Jones for accepting an opening slot on Nickelback’s Canadian tour earlier this year. That said, though, there is no reason to continue advertise it. When Danko Jones’ (named after the band’s frontman and guitarist and also featuring bassist JC Calabrese and drummer Dan Cornelious) record label, Razor & Tie, send nice thick press packets for the band’s new disc, Sleep Is The Enemy, they should leave out the December 2005 press release about the tour.

The Nickelback trek needs to be handled carefully, like the closing-time hook up with the local bar floozy: It happened, some positive came from it, but when it’s all said and done it’s a one-night stand better left that way. Especially for Danko Jones because they are sitting on a record in Sleep that should win over hard rock fans of the non-Nickelback/3 Doors Down/Staind variety. Jones’ lyrics can be downright dumb sometimes (“I’ll burn down my house just for you/I’ll rip my nuts off just for you” from “Invisible”) but his fiery energy and the band’s skill with three-chord riff rockers like “Natural Tan” and “Sticky Situation” make up for a lack of anything to say. The band do thunderous arena anthems like the AC/DC-ish “Baby Hates Me” just as well as they do revved blasts of dark pop punk a la Alkaline Trio on “When Will I See You.”

This show was originally scheduled for Beat Kitchen; the Nude Celebs, Rollo Tomasi, and Quatre Tete open.

— Trevor Fisher

Click here to download Danko Jones’ “First Date.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly