REVIEW: 2 OUT OF 4 STARS

What: Nickelback with opening act The Pretty Reckless

When and where: Feb. 24, 2015, Van Andel Arena

Highlight: Nickelback started and ended its main set strong, with "Million Miles an Hour" and "How You Remind Me," respectively. The rest, though? Um.

Length: 90 minutes for Nickelback, 40 for The Pretty Reckless

Attendance: 7,000

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Bro.

Bro.

Bro. Nickelback returned to Van Andel Arena Tuesday night, and confirmed its status as a rock band that performs music in live venues. Being an arena show, it featured many hit songs, a multimedia production and crowd-friendly sing-alongs.

Approximately 7,000 people who probably don't hate Nickelback attended the concert, 3,000 less than the group's previous visit in 2012. Whether those 3,000 have grown to hate the band could not be confirmed. There is also no proof of correlation between the smaller crowd and the influence of the popular subjective notion that the band is terrible. It may just be that Nickelback's star is dimming now that it has achieved remarkable success - 50 million albums sold, many unavoidable hit radio singles - which only in the rarest of instances can be maintained in perpetuity.

Perhaps sensing this, Nickelback scaled down its live production. In 2012, a platform lifted the group, still performing, above the stage and transported them to the back of the venue - an expensive big-show gimmick on par with spectacles put on by Motley Crue or U2. That was excised for Tim, a third live guitarist in a (probably ironic) Village People T-shirt. Lead singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger was very enthused about Tim, talking to and about Tim often during long, rambling stage raps between songs. Notably, Tim didn't perform on all songs, only the ones that demanded a third guitarist to play the exact same chords as the other two.

RELATED: Why Nickelback is an impossible band to review

The stage set featured a massive, round jumbotron screen displaying close-up shots of Nickelback performing, or other miscellaneous videos; one such video pandered to the specific audience by featuring a "Pure Michigan" logo and a photo of Detroiter Kid Rock. It also featured lights in concentric half-circles arranged above the stage, creating a sort-of amphitheater of pain partially reminiscent of Dante's levels of Hell.

A key element of the production was Kroeger's T-shirt gun, which launched Nickelback shirts - maybe even the same ones being sold for $40 on the concourse - all the way to the back of the arena. It may have been the most compellingly played instrument all evening, since the crowd cheered more loudly for its use than anything else.

Like death, taking cheap shots at Nickelback is inevitable: "Domestic can beer" read one sign at the concession, while the musical equivalent of those words was featured on the marquee. Kroeger repeatedly encouraged the crowd to drink alcoholic beverages ("Everybody's got these great big (gosh darn) beers," he observed), since keeping his fans blind-blotto is in their best interest, for they're listening to Nickelback's music. He drank five shots of liquor himself, because he's the one who has to perform it.

Kroeger even took potshots at himself. "I want to scream (excrement)," he said in one of his many, many nigh-endless stage raps. "Most of it is dumb (excrement), but I wanna scream it." Case in point, "Something in Your Mouth," a song so idiotic and crass it must have been written to be scorched by the white-hot flame of our dislike. He introduced it as "naughty (excrement)," asking, "Ladies? Something sexual maybe?" At least he asked for consent to perform the song, even if he didn't seem to care to hear the answer.

Later, he declared a moment "one for the ladies," and led the band through "Far Away," proving he believes that females prefer uncompelling music. The song is vanilla, wimpy and watery, with lyrics such as "I love you" and "I miss you," which flashed on the jumbotron in cursive script, something "the ladies" theoretically love, according to market research, I think.

The show featured none of the rolling momentum fostered by bands who understand that stopping between every song results in 90 minutes with Nickelback when it could be a shorter, more merciful length of time. But Kroeger took the mic at every opportunity, to talk about beer or declare himself "so full of (excrement)" in an amiable, jokey tone.

The music is everyman rock, a blend of poppy hooks and the occasional heavy guitar riff. Nickelback is better on a good chug (set opener "Million Miles an Hour") than a limp strum ("Gotta Be Somebody"). Perhaps it's worth noting that Tim can do both, or perhaps not. The set featured "Hero," "Photograph," "Rock Star" and "We Must Stand Together," which sounded exactly like their recorded versions, perfect for those who value familiarity, and don't want any surprises when they're five great big (gosh darn) beers into the show.

Notable was the inclusion of smash hit "How You Remind Me," which closed the main set, and was performed with the sanitized proficiency that is Nickelback's trademark. It features the line "Are we having fun yet?" which, when decontextualized, becomes an ironic existential question pondered by anyone who has ever attended a Nickelback concert while sober.

Also tossed in were instrumental covers of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and Pantera's "Walk," which soundtracked Kroeger's ceremonial firing of the T-shirts. A note-perfect version of Foo Fighters' "Everlong," sung by guitarist Ryan Peake, was featured in the two-song encore. An Eagles sing-along nearly derailed when the audience struggled to remember the verse lyrics to "Hotel California," although they came through for the chorus; "You (expletive) rock!" Kroeger said afterward, sort of lying.

Deep in the show, Kroeger said he wanted to play more songs than they should - a threat, perhaps - but did anyone believe him? Nickelback never deviates from the elementary formula that made them heaping piles of dough. Maybe such safe predictability is why the band struggled to fill seats Tuesday night. Another might be that Nickelback is just really crummy.

Opener The Pretty Reckless played 40 minutes of rock rendered not necessarily non-descript by singer Taylor Momsen, who has a reasonably strong rock voice. The band's moody cut "Heaven Knows" was, per Momsen, the No. 1 rock song of 2014, presented as a clap-along number. Otherwise, songs "Make Me Wanna Die," "Going to Hell" and "(Expletive) Up World" were more confrontational in title than execution.

John Serba is film critic and entertainment reporter for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jserba@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.