BACKSTREET BOYS ENTHUSIASTS STILL WANT IT THAT WAY
Older and wiser ’90s heartthrobs put on a sleek and satisfying show
Admit it, folks.
Even if you hadn’t verbalized it, you were wondering; who still listens to the Backstreet Boys? Turns out enough people to fill a large NHL arena, that’s who.
The Florida five-piece, part of the spate of cute boy bands that all but owned the radio in the late ’80s through ’90s, are still cranking out No. 1 records with this year’s DNA, and they can definitely sell out a venue.
They also continue to be an impressively hard-working live act, part Vegas shlock, part self-aware comedy, all tied up in an appealingly light singing and dancing package.
Older they may be, but they’re also wiser, tipping a hat to encroaching middle age while slightly winking at the audience with their bump ’n’ grind routine. Even more importantly, they have a few undoubted bangers at their disposal.
Many of those were situated in the middle of their long set (Backstreet’s Back, of course), but the Boys started off strong with a couple of dance-pop favourites in The Call and I Wanna Be With You. They mixed things up with costume changes, solo spotlights, duets, and a few Buster Keaton stage moves, Brian Littrell in particular hamming it up. Everyone got their say, though what they had to say wasn’t particularly original: Nick Carter teased the notion of the Boys moving to Canada, while Kevin and A.J. made the obligatory “we couldn’t have done it without you” speech.
Carter showed off his still supple vocals on neo-50’s ballad The Way It Was, while Get Down nudged at their early dalliance with New Jack Swing.
New Love was saucy, or at least as saucy as the Backstreet Boys get, Quit Playing Games With My Heart sweet and earnest.
Howie Dorough took the spotlight with the throbbing synth and bass heavy DNA track Chateau.
All of the necessary buttons were pushed for longtime fans; they may not be the dewy heartthrobs of their youth, but they’re smart showbiz veterans who put on a satisfying and sleek show.
Opener Baylee Littrell looks like he could be an original Backstreet Boy, but then he comes by it naturally; his father is Brian Littrell. While his dad opts for R & B dance-pop, the teenage Littrell markets himself as a country singer, more on the pop than the twang side, California sunshine division on cuts like his recent single, We Run the Beach.
His band is tight, his stage moves perfunctory; for most of his short set Littrell looked like he was aimlessly pacing, though to be fair most openers would seem that way compared to the confident, endlessly moving Backstreet Boys.
His music fits right in with the current trends, a studied blend of rock and country-pop with a pour over of hip-hop production, plus a few catchy tracks (Boxes; Don’t Knock It) that wouldn’t sound out of place on the Top Ten. Who knows; with some coaching from his pops and the uncles and it’s quite possible Littrell will be up there in the next few years.