In Defense of Nickelback...

Nickelback made a quick stop in my second home, Calgary tonight. The larger than life band was taking part in a benefit concert to help with flood relief after the massive flooding that occurred in Alberta earlier this summer in June. Raising $1.5 (early night-of results) million dollars at the concert alone, community fundraising has been a huge part and a massive success to help get life back to normal in parts of Alberta hit by the flood. Life continues to be far from normal for the thousands who lost homes, businesses and property because of the floods; but the fundraising has been a valiant effort to show neighbourly compassion in a city not known to be incredibly warm. 

I was still living in Calgary when the flood struck. Our home was unaffected, we had minor sewage problems; but I took part in collaborative efforts to help dig-out of the mess left in the floods path. I helped dig out homes that were consumed by muck; I helped rip down walls that were ruined by lakes of run-off water from the raging river and I saw countless people having to throw out their most treasured belongings covered in the muddy brown ooze. As heartbreaking as that was in all my time living Calgary I had never felt connected to the city, I had found it cold and harsh in comparison to my East Coast roots. In the rebuilding from the flood things changed, I felt a connection with Calgary; something I never thought would happen.

Standing in a line with thousands of other people the first day volunteers were being called in at MacMahon stadium I saw the goodwill and graciousness of a city I thought was pretty hard. Too many people showed up to spend their day doing manual labour, getting dirty without the comforts found in our developed world. Without the promise of food, water or washrooms people left MacMahon by the bus load and then when the buses were gone people left with strangers in their own vehicles to the muster points throughout the city. Food trucks were on sight before everyone left to fill volunteers stomachs with free food, but what was even more surprising was the good will on the streets.

Mothers stuck watching children while everyone else dealt with the wreckage toured the city with BAGS of food, passing it out to anyone and everyone in need. One family approached us with bags of fast-food burgers to hand out to people working on site. Companies brought their stock of bottled drinks to the front lines, dropping off flats of drinks to areas hardest hit. Sandwiches, cookies, coffee, doughnuts, muffins and other goods were brought from homes in the unaffected areas of the city to the crews working to help make even a small difference in the hardest days of the Alberta Flood.

This is just my personal experience with Calgary’s flooding. I completely understand there was much more bad than what I saw, but there was also so much good. I am sticking to my own account of the Flood, just to give a little background to the topic. I was there, as a new grad my heart broke for a 22 year old fellow new university grad I worked with. We emptied his new basement apartment that that been filled with the river; it was full of a muddy sludge that ruined all of his belongings. Everything he had worked so hard to earn was gone, including his university degree diploma that had been hanging at eye level on his wall. It dripped sludge when it was pulled off the bottom of the muddy floor. I will never forget that as long as I live.

I found out that day, the first day of the cleanup efforts, that I had gotten this job in the Kootenays. At the time I had finally connected with the city I had started to recognize as home, I was going to have to move. I continued to help with the cleanup effort for the rest of my time in Calgary, but was soon off to the Kootenays to start my career.

Now the Nickelback…

I know that was a lot of background with no mention of Nickelback for my Nickelback commentary. Lots of people are complaining about Nickelback right now, because they did not want their part of the AB Flood Relief concert tonight broadcast over the streams. It was what has been dubbed an ‘exclusive performance’ and I completely agree with the call to limit broadcasting rights to the headliner performance.

I get it, not everyone can go to the concert. That’s all right, not everyone watching the stream is going to pitch in and donate money. All of those people paying to be at the Alberta Flood Aid Benefit Concert have contributed to the cause, what is the point of having a fundraising aide like a massive concert if there is no incentive to going? The best seats in the house for massive concerts like this are always going to be at home, I think there has to be some reason, some bonus to being there in person; paying lots of money to have a drink of water and supper, peeing in a gross public washroom, touching and smelling strangeness. I agree with having an ‘exclusive performance’ as part of the concert, I think it was the best idea for a charity event that thousands of people spent their hard-earned dollars to attend. Wherever you have a person willing to spend money on something, you will have two people trying to get the same thing for free.

I would have loved to have been there, I would have had free tickets so I still texted a donation. For all the nay-sayers who say, well I donated money so I should get to see Nickelback  Tough ca-ca, stop whining, you have learned your lesson; be there in person next time. Or, just wait until the DVD comes out and buy it. 

Ripping on Nickelback is a Canadian tradition (as my boyfriend says), people will always have something bad to say because it is Nickelback. 

*For reference, I am not a Nickelback fan. I respect that they make music that some people like (I do not hate it but it is not even close to being my type of tunes), I think they put on an amazing show; they blew me away at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. I would never be defending them on a normal day, but in this case I must say I think they did something smart tonight. It made them look bad tonight, but it could help further fundraising efforts in the long run and I think it was in the interest of everyone who took time out of their day to be there in person and spent some cold hard cash on the event.