It’s not often that you get to see the evolution of one of the world’s biggest bands first hand, from near birth to the highest level of rock and roll fame. In 1996, Nickelback’s very first gig was at the now defunct Town Pump in Vancouver where they played to a tiny crowd that had no idea who they were. Having settled in Vancouver in the mid-90s, Nickelback became one of the rising bands in Vancouver’s diverse music scene at the time. After a while, you couldn’t open a paper without seeing Nickelback booked at one of the city’s select few small live venues for alternative and rock bands. Looking back now, it was the awesome word of mouth from their local shows that set them on a path to becoming one of the most popular rock bands on the planet.

The mid-90s were an amazing time for the Vancouver music scene. Much like Seattle, it had a cool alt-vibe all to its own. It was a melting pot of both emerging and established artists from a variety of musical genres that lived in the city. On any given night you could see the likes of Moist, the Odds, Bif Naked, Matthew Good, Nickelback, Delerium, or Sarah McLachlan. Even the veteran legendary local rockers D.O.A. and former B.T.O. and Guess Who guitarist, Randy Bachman, were making the rounds around town, too. I even remember having a beer with Steven Page and Ed Robertson of The Barenaked Ladies during a break from one of their secret undercover gigs with the Odds. And I'm sure Nickelback front man Chad Kroeger would tell you; it was a cool time for music in Vancouver. Even Snoop-Dogg was hanging out in the city. And when the '90s came to a close, we saw the birth of local band turned up and coming Indie newcomers Hot Hot Heat.

So when the exclusive December 2 Wal-Mart release Nickelback: Live at Sturgis 2006 DVD hit my desk this week, it was kind of surreal to look at where the band is today after seeing, first hand, their rise to huge super rockers. After breaking through the U.S. charts with their 2001 album Silver Side Up and the gargantuan hit single “How You Remind Me”, the #1 song of the year on Billboard, Nickelback has been a powerhouse on the mainstream rock charts ever since. Post Silver Aside Up and the second #1 “Never Again”, Nickelback soared to even bigger heights with their massively popular contribution to the Spider-Man soundtrack, “Hero”, before releasing The Long Road, which spawned the #1 singles “Someday” and “Figure You Out” plus hits “Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good” and “Because of “You”. 2005 saw the release of All the Right Reasons and the #1 singles “Photograph” and “Animals” and other top selling chart hits such as “Far Away”, “Rockstar”, “Side of a Bullet”, and “If Everyone Cared”. All of that massive success came only seven years removed from their breakthrough album.

So how does one of the world’s biggest, most popular rock bands top that type of success? For their latest album, Dark Horse, Nickelback enlisted the services of one of the top music producers of all time, Mutt Lange, who helmed such legendary albums as AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, Back in Black, and For Those About to Rock We Salute You plus Def Leppard’s High ‘N Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria, and Adrenalize to name just a fraction of Lange’s credits. So it’s not a shock that Dark Horse has been sitting atop of the Billboard charts since its release in November.

On the heels of Dark Horse comes the band’s second live DVD Nickelback: Live at Sturgis 2006, which was recorded on their All the Right Reasons tour when they played to a crowd of over 35,000 at the renowned annual bikerfest “Rockin’ the Rally” in Sturgis, South Dakota on August 8, 2006. Given the biker vibe of Sturgis, enhanced by the accompanying barely clothed, free-lovin’ biker chicks, Sturgis was the perfect place for Nickelback to play given Chad Kroeger’s gravely vocals, his rocker stage presence, and the band’s made for mainstream motorbike sound.

Filmed completely in HD, Nickelback: Live at Sturgis 2006 includes 12 of the band’s most popular songs, half of which are from All the Right Reasons – “Animals”, “Woke Up This Morning”, “Photograph”, “Because of You”, “Far Away”, “Never Again”, “Savin’ Me”, “Someday”, “Side of A Bullet”, “How You Remind Me”, “Too Bad”, and “Figured You Out”. Although not a live track, the disc also includes the video for the Nickelback single “Rockstar”, another track from All The Right Reasons.

As for special features, the disc also includes a great 17-minute behind-the-scenes doc, which follows the band inside the bowels of the stadium as they prepare for the show, giving candid thoughts on touring, how they stay in shape for the road, and how they got to where they are today. It was funny to see the guys arguing over the legitimacy of B-12 shots but it was even cooler to know Chad Kroeger is still more of an old school front man (the way they’re supposed to be). Rounding out the extras is a cool “Sturgis 101” featurette that breaks down the biggest biker rally in the world, inter-cut with real footage of the week and the unique mix of motor heads that attend each year, plus a high quality photo gallery of the band and the show.

After checking out the Sturgis show on my system, which I listen to in Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, and with the SRS Circle Surround option, Nickelback: Live at Sturgis 2006 sounds as powerful as the band itself without any irregularities in quality. Visually, it’s an awesome ride in HD. Initially, when I looked at the song list I was surprised to see that “Hero” wasn’t included, but it makes sense since they needed to make room for “Photograph” and the "All the Right Reasons" tracks, plus “Someday”. Looking back at their very first gig at the Town Pump in Vancouver as unknown openers, it’s weird to think of the contrast of extremes between a crowd of a couple hundred at a small but awesome venue to 35,000 screaming bikers inside an arena. It must be even weirder for the band. You don’t need to get your nickel back with this one, the new Live at Sturgis 2006 rocks, which you can now find exclusively at Wal-Mart.