They may be older, but group proves they have what it takes to wow their mostly female fans
Sarah Petrescu, Victoria Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, September 06, 2008
The Backstreet Boys are still heavyweights in the boy band arena, if last night’s show at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre is any indication.
Sure they are old (like, 30ish!), a little thicker around the middles and the hair is not quite as thick. Some are married, even have kids.
But when the boys took the stage in boxing gloves and a full ring for their first song Larger than Life they sent the message to the mass of screaming fans: Backstreet Boys are fighting boy band champions.
Fear of cheesiness, mocking critics and those ringleted Jonas Brothers be damned.
The Backstreet Boys danced hard, sang well and fully committed to giving their fans a high-energy, fun two-hour show.
The highlight was by far a medley of their hits Quit Playing Games With my Heart, As Long as You Love Me and All I Have to Give. Followed, of course, by a rockish Everybody and good harmonies on Incomplete.
The Backstreet Boys were hot stuff in the 90s. I was a little old (and stuck on the New Kids on the Block) for their mania but I vividly recall a friend’s little sister making out with her Nick doll and blasting Quit Playing Games With My Heart on her ghetto blaster. And who couldn’t help but bust out the hip hop moves to Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)?
I still do.
Though their followups to that initial explosion of hits, Millenium in 1999, Black and Blue in 2000, Never Gone in 2005 and Unbreakable in 2008, sold millions of albums, the songs and the crush appeal of the Boys never reached its previous height. But they have a massive loyal fan base. Many in the audience were singing along to every song.
Who goes to a Backstreet Boys concert these days? Women. Lots of them. From kids to seniors, but mostly in their early 20s.
The majority of women at last night’s show were likely way too young to consider their fave squeaky clean B-Boy a prospect when they discovered them. A decade later, they know different.
Women held up signs saying everything from “AJ, I’m Pregnant” and “Threesome?” to “Marry Me” and “Drunk (with an arrow pointing down.”
But the Boys did a good job of keeping the show clean fun. After 15 years together they run a tight ship, but their best songs and dance moves are still their oldies.
One disappointment was that Girlicious - product of the Pussycat Dolls’ catty reality-TV group search - cancelled as the opener. Vancouver’s Elise Estrada performed instead. The former beauty queen brought along a surprise Victoria party legend, Troy the Barber T-Bone, to hype up the crowd.
Source: Canada.Com