Albuquerque Concert Preview

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Oct 07, 2001 Source: The Albuquerque Journal Submitted By: Gina Cates Back on the Backstreet By Leanne Potts Journal Staff Writer Neither rehab, terrorist attacks nor bad press will keep the Backstreet Boys from finishing their appointed tour. Backstreet Boys WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Journal Pavilion, 5601 University SE, off Bobby Foster Road, east of Broadway HOW MUCH: $67.50 through Ticketmaster Given the bruising year the Orlando, Fla., quintet has had, naming their latest CD "Black and Blue" was an act of prescience. First, sales of the release — 8 million copies to date — were disappointing by boy-band standards, leading many to speculate that the Boys' moment in the teen-idol sun was over. "Stick a fork in the Backstreet Boys, they're done," wrote one of the nastier members of the music press in June. (This is probably why they are giving interviews to absolutely no one in the print media.) Then in July band member A.J. McLean went into rehabilitation for alcoholism and depression, forcing the band to postpone or cancel a slew of shows at the height of the summer concert season. Then there was Rolling Stone's big wet kiss for rivals 'N Sync. The magazine put Justin, et al., on the cover of its August issue along with the headline "The Biggest Band In The World." And as if that wasn't enough to make the Boys weep, the 'zine also issued five different covers featuring each member of 'N Sync, star treatment even the Beatles didn't get. Then three weeks ago one of the Boys' set carpenters was killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Crew member Danny Lee, who was on his way home to L.A. to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, was aboard the plane that crashed into the North Tower. His daughter was born to a newly widowed mother two days after her father died. Even though the band members travel separately from their crew — each Boy has his own $1.2 million custom motor coach to ferry him from concert date to concert date — they are said to have been distressed by Lee's death. But wait, there's more. Right after the terrorist attacks, Boy Kevin Richardson found himself in the middle of controversy when the New York Post quoted him as saying this: "I just think we are a little bit of an arrogant nation and maybe this is a little bit of a humbling experience. What has our government done to provoke this action that we don't know about?" His remarks didn't go over well in the current flag-saturated moment, and Richardson spent a week apologizing for his comments. But the Boys just keep on going because polished pop and highly choreographed dance routines must go on, especially when the national spirit is glum. They will finish their 38-date summer tour on Oct. 20 and release a greatest hits CD called "Chapter 1" three days later. A.J.'s stint in rehab seems to have been a publicity boost for the band. It's not surprising, really, because Americans love nothing so much as a very public stumble by someone famous followed by a very public act of contrition. Since the Boys resumed their tour, critics have been writing nice things about them. "There was something strangely nostalgic and slightly reassuring about the feel-good ear candy of the Backstreet Boys — a throwback to less troubled, not-too-distant times," wrote a reviewer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer after the Boys' Sept. 19 show there. And the Boys seem to have gotten their groove back. Earlier in the year A.J., Kevin, Howie, Nick and Brian looked as if they were being choreographed at gunpoint. But since A.J.'s return the Boys have been, in the words of a Newsday critic, "entertaining, fun-loving and fan-attentive." The Backstreet Boys, by the numbers 92 (Days A.J. will have been sober by the time he plays Albuquerque.) 30 (Days he spent in a rehabilitation program for alcoholism.) 24 (Number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the Boys want in their dressing room, according to the catering rider on their contract.) 742,000 (Web sites that mention them.) 55 million (Records the group has sold.) 6 (BSB songs with the words "heart" or "love" in the title.) 0 (BSB songs with the words "death" or "rage" in the title.) Comment on this item. Next Item: 'NSYNC, Backstreet Boys Help Madonna Launch Latin Label Prev Item: Security No Concern For Backstreet Boys Concert