Globe and Mail Review: 3/15/00, Toronto, ON

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Mar 17, 2000 Source: The Globe and Mail Submitted By: Ivy C Thursday, March 16, 2000 Backstreet Boys not just for teenyboppers any more Orlando quintet shows some signs of fatigue at tour-ending SkyDome show, but fans -- of all ages -- keep on screaming By Leah McLaren Toronto -- How much longer can it last? Backstreet madness, the syndrome that turns women into girls and girls into banshees, has persisted in epidemic proportions since 1996. Since then, the Backstreet Boys have played seven sold-out shows in the Toronto area alone. At last night's sold-out concert at the SkyDome, 50,000 fans shrieked along to the band's string of soft pop hits. The concert sold out last December in less than an hour. The band had played the same show in the same venue for an audience 30,000 only the month before. Back in 1997, The Globe and Mail predicted the Backstreet Boys would probably be gone "in the blink of an eye." How wrong we were. Not only has the Orlando-based quintet stuck around, they're bigger than ever. The boy band has benefited enormously from the changing (or is that regressing?) tastes of adult R&B fans today. While it's indisputable that the majority of the Backstreet Boys' audience is composed of preteen and teenaged girls, the group also appears to have a growing adult fan base. Among the tens of thousands gathered at the SkyDome last night were a conspicuous number of adult women -- without pint-sized chaperones. For Brenda Adams, 35, of Georgetown, Ont., and Linda Henderson, 32, of Brampton, Ont., the show was strictly a ladies night out. "She bought me my ticket as a Christmas present," Ms. Henderson said, grinning with glee. Just ahead of them in line stood Holly Procktor, 26, a Toronto graduate student and her twin sister Louise, a sales rep for Kraft. "They have great talent," Louise enthused, "and it doesn't hurt that they're good looking." "We're reliving our teenage years," her sister shrugged. "What's wrong with that?" Not a thing. Especially at a time when the Boys are beginning to gain some popular-musical credibility. This year the Backstreets were nominated for four Grammy awards, including best album. Their latest album, Millennium, elicited a wave of solid -- if not rave -- reviews. This from a band Howard Stern refers to as "the Backside Boys." Each of the group's three albums to date has soared beyond diamond status (sold more than one million) in Canada alone. The Backstreets got their first mainstream break in Canada -- the five poppets were topping the charts in Quebec years before they made it big in their home country. For the last show of their epic Into the Millennium tour, the Boys let their stadium of fans marinate for a solid hour and a half before taking the stage. By the time the flagship R&B boppers arrived, amid a storm of pyrotechnics, the crowd was practically convulsing in the aisles. A scream went up like the sound of 50,000 Hitchcock heroines confronting their killers. This was followed by the blinding light of thousands of camera flashes going off at once. But while this tight, futuristically themed spectacle ran smoothly enough, there were a few signs of wear and tear. The lads seemed a little low on energy, dragging their sneakers up and down the stage ramps and snickering at their own singing mistakes. And frankly, the "boys" didn't look much like boys at all. Kevin Richardson, 28, and Brian Littrell, 24, will break zillions of hearts when they become Backstreet grooms later this year, and hey, hadn't Nick Carter -- the "cute one" -- put on a lot of weight? At the end of a worldwide 170-show tour, the Backstreet Boys certainly deserve a break. If all goes well for them, the collective attention span of their usually fickle fan base will continue to hold. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: awesome seo 3KZ5Vx Hi, i think that i saw you visited my website so i came to ���return the favor���.I'm attempting to find things to enhance my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!! Submitted by: ppionerka Submitted by: kipetok Submitted by: Edward Submitted by: James Submitted by: Shawn Submitted by: Lemat Submitted by: Paulo Submitted by: John Comment on this item. Next Item: Global TV Review: 3/15/00, Toronto, ON Prev Item: National Post Review: 3/15/00, Toronto, ON