“Warm Safe Place,” “Right Here,” “Animals,” and ” Dear Agony” are just a few examples of songs that have gone viral on TikTok that fall into the rock subgenre known as dad rock.
It’s also a style of rock whose bands are still actively touring. While they are not in their prime like they were 20 years ago, they still can put on an amazing show. This can easily be said about bands like Nickelback, Staind, Seether, Daughtry, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and Creed.
These are all bands I’ve seen live, and they deliver amazing performances despite their prime being 2002-2008.
The venues they play are also always still decently full; heck, the last time Nickelback went on a full-fledged tour, they sold out Hersheypark Stadium, which has a concert capacity of 30,000. The other bands I mentioned are still touring arenas and large amphitheaters, such as Freedom Mortgage Pavilion.
Sometimes people will hit you with the age-old “wasn’t that band popular 20 years ago?” Yes, they were popular 20 years ago, and they’re still iconic now for those songs 20 years later, and people want to see them sing those songs.
Maybe it’s a specific side of TikTok I’m on, but I frequently see TikToks of people to the song “Dear Agony” by Breaking Benjamin, where users are lying on the ground and the caption is something along the lines of “the proper way to listen to this song.” Another popular TikTok I’ve seen is “who my Spotify probably thinks I am,” with a picture of a guy giving divorced dad vibes “versus what I actually look like,” and it’s this really pretty girl that you wouldn’t stereotype as someone listening to that kind of music
Deadpool is also a Nickelback fan in the 2018 movie “Once Upon a Deadpool.” Proving further that even after hit albums, the band has remained iconic nearly 30 years later.
Most recently, I saw Staind at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey. If you wanted to be transported back to 2002 for a rock show, they are definitely one of the bands to see. Especially as their shows are the 25th anniversary tour for their album “Break the Cycle.”
They played a lot of hits and some lesser-known songs from the album that they haven’t played in two decades, which was super cool to be able to witness. Songs like “Take It” and “Pressure” are songs that have not been on a setlist for over 10 or 20 years.
The continued popularity of these bands and songs proves that no matter how much time has passed, these bands still remain as iconic as they were 20 years ago.
