Boys still pack pop vocal punch

Boys still pack pop vocal punch Sun, November 9, 2008

By JAMES REANEY

The Backstreet Boys (Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean) hit the stage in London on the Canadian leg of their Unbreakable tour. (SUSAN BRADNAM, Sun Media)

First, they played around at being lords of the ring.
Later, they delivered the one-two knockout punch.
Former teen-pop sensations the Backstreet Boys had the gloves on at the
John Labatt Centre last night, earning the screams of 5,200 fans by
hitting the stage in boxing attire, complete with silky robes and
leathery mitts. The knockout arrived at the end of the
100-minute, hardworking show with a thunderous Everybody (Backstreet's
Back) -- the band's one true classic -- as the main set finale. A sweet
encore with a visit to Shape of My Heart produced quieter, but still
pretty deafening screams. BSB is now the foursome of Brian Littrell,
Howie Dorough, Nick Carter and A.J. McLean after Littrell's cousin,
Kevin Richardson, bowed out in 2006. A little older and a little
slower, those four still pack a pop vocal punch. They can still move
around the stage, even if their choreography was smoother when they
were the prototype boy band.

"They told us London was crazy," one of the Boys shouted early in the
show. "It's because of you we have been together for 15 years." One of the best signs of the night claimed
simply, "Fan since '96." Many of the other fans were young females who
missed BSB's glory days in the 1990s, and made up for it by screaming
and standing before the curtain slipped away and their heroes appeared.
The Boys opened with Larger than Life, while working their routines in
a faux ring that seemed to have feathery boas for ropes and maybe Kanye
West for inspiration. The song provided the cue for another good
sign -- "I hear you're larger than life." The Boys pretended to knock
each other out near the end of the song, which only provoked the
biggest bout of screaming to that point. Hit singles like Quit Playing Games (With My
Heart), Larger Than Life and I Want It That Way -- which produced the
first mass singalong of the night -- made the Boys huge stars. Their
choreography and stagework helped. The boxing gear and the ring disappeared in
time for the second number, when the Boys were in more familiar garb --
slick sports coats and stylish jackets with T-shirts peeping out. A
Black Sabbath logo or two could be seen, meaning the fans were in for
some wilder looks and a lot of Smet label wear later in the night. The boys changed costumes almost as often as
Cher and Gwen Stefani, co-holders of the biggest wardrobe award for a
John Labatt Centre gig. Littrell was the first Boy to be introduced
in the boxing ring. For the record, McLean's fake boxing nickname is
"The Jizzle'' and he was the only to sport an ascot. Carter had a
bowtie and spent a lot of time adjusting his metal belt. For the record, there was considerable
butt-wiggling and promises of "juicy kisses" for "all the sexy ladies."
The fans made sure the butt-wiggling never got old. The kisses were
delivered as the Boys brushed up against the fans near the stage,
mostly of the air smooch landing on a cheek category. The cherub who was on stage for the finale
was apparently Littrell's son. He already has mastered his dad's
ability to wave ever so nicely. All four Boys had solo spots. Littrell's was
a ballad called Welcome Home, which tied in with a video saluting U.S.
armed forces and their loved ones. Dorough had a slow, Latin-style number. Carter rolled around the stage during his solo.
McLean, the closet rocker in BSB, arrived for his solo flight by
tearing across the stage. He blasted through Drive By Love, confirming
that the fans were ready and willing to rock along with him. Except for McLean's blitzing number, the solo spots tended to show why the Boys haven't shone as solo stars.
There is another reason they're still together. The Backstreet Boys
have battled through many real-life woes. A Sun Media survey details
the most serious ones: Littrell was nearly sidelined by heart
complications in 1998, Dorough lost his sister to lupus the same year,
and McLean went public with drug and alcohol addictions in 2003. Less tragically, Carter dated Paris Hilton,
was charged with drunk driving and appeared in a short-lived reality
show with his constantly squabbling siblings. He also has the
misfortune to be related that odious little pest of a brother, Aaron
Carter, unfondly remembered by this critic for staging a terrible
concert at the Western Fair a few years back. What makes Nick Carter and his pals in the
Boys so much better than that? They sing better as a group than almost
any other boy band, old or young (the R and B-flavoured acts are in a
different class, but let's compare apples with apples here). With a set
list including Inconsolable, Incomplete and I'll Be the One, they have
a lock on anything with an "I." The Boys also have a sense of humour about
their place in the pop universe after all these years. When it came
time for the band introductions, the fine guitarist went into the riff
from Michael Jackson's Beat It. McLean took the cue for a little
moonwalk. It was a nod, not a jab. Canadian R and B star Divine Brown opened. "We need more energy here," Brown said at one point.
Last night, the Backstreet Boys and their boisterous fans knew where to find it.

Source: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand