So my secret’s out: I’m a Nickelback fan. I actually WANTED to see Nickelback. I don’t believe Rob Gordon when he says “It’s what you like; not what you ARE like.” I’ve liked Nickelback since about 2000, and saw them for $12 at the Webster Theater, and I don’t care who knows it.

I’ll admit: the fans at last night’s show were drunken idiots, but they at least had a good time and I didn’t run into any obnoxious fans, save a few 40-something toasted males trying to chat me up while I set up for the show.

Soundboard shooting is interesting. It seems to be a loose term for “most-rear 15 feet of the general admission pit area.” There were only 3 other photographers, so I think we would have fit nicely in the actual photo pit, but oh well.

The folks at the XL Center were very nice and helpful in getting me information about my first soundboard shoot. It entailed bringing a stool, monopod, and of course the obligatory telephoto lens. I felt like a bit of a spectacle getting all of this setup during the first band, but by the time Nickelback came on stage, I felt like an old hat at it. Basically we were only allowed the first three songs of each band, and we were escorted back to security. So I didn’t get to see any of My Darkest Days, Seether, or Bush. And for Nickelback, I had to run to my car to drop off my camera and then run back to the venue to get to my seat.

A shoutout to Eric for saving me a great seat with him, since mine was up in the nosebleed section. And you can check out his review on the Nickelback show here.

Now, since I had to sign a lame photo consent form, which was thankfully not REALLY rights-grabbing… I’m probably not allowed to post any Nickelback pics here. But here’s a link to our lame photo gallery on courant.com. It’s only lame because I can’t stretch the photos out to a nice roomy 980px wide format.

Instead, for your viewing pleasure, here are some of the opening acts: