As one of the busiest men in the business, after eight months of long grueling tours, and lending his hand in production and song writing for various other projects, Chad Kroeger is looking forward to some time off by the years end.
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. 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.’ “
