Backstreet Boys started world tour this week
SUNRISE, Fla. - Eager to reclaim their place atop the pile of boy bands, the Backstreet Boys opened their world tour with a show mixing harmony driven pop and dance with playful asides that worked fans into a frenzy.
The Boys - Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson - delivered a 90-minute, 21-song set Monday, made up of songs from their latest album “Black & Blue,” and two previous records, “Millennium” and “Backstreet Boys.”
“It’s hot in here tonight,” Richardson told the crowd. “It’s good to be back in the saddle again in front of all you people, and it’s good to feel your love.”
Thousands of blue glow stick-twirling fans, mostly adolescent girls, joined baby boomers and their children for the first of 36 North American concerts. The Boys will return to the United States for a second tour in August.
Staci Zavattaro, 17, brought her 47-year-old mother Nancy to the show as a Valentine’s Day gift.
“She’s sort of a closet fan,” Zavattaro said.
The group, backed by a six-piece band and nine dancers, kicked off the show with “Everyone,” off “Black & Blue.” They swiftly followed that with “Larger Than Life,” one of their big hits off 1999’s “Millennium,” and then slipped into a mellower gear with several R&B ballads.
The show-stopper came about 10 songs into the set, when the group invited the audience to watch during one of their half-dozen wardrobe changes.
“Do you like these outfits we’re wearing now?” McLean asked. “Why don’t you guys come down into our dressing room.
A backdrop doubling as a projection screen showed the group changing shirts and hamming it up.
The Boys emerged to perform a few ballads, including “How Did I Fall In Love With You?” and “Time,” extending their arms and pointing randomly at the audience, many of whom tried to get closer.
“I’m not going to sleep tonight,” said Nenette Dameus, 15, of Fort Lauderdale.
The Backstreet Boys closed the show with three dance-heavy numbers, “Backstreet’s Back,” off their debut album, “Get Another Boyfriend” and the “The Call,” before vanishing and returning for one encore, “Shape of My Heart.”
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
