Daily Iowan Review: 11/02/99 Iowa City, IA

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 05, 2099 Source: Daily Iowan 11/3/99 Submitted By: KDisney85@aol.com Iowa City, IA DI reporter Robin Wright Back(squeal)street (squeal) Boys (squeal) The Backstreet Boys took a back seat to no one Tuesday Thousands of squealing girls flood out of minivans into Caver-Hawkeye Arena, dressed in their favorite pair of flared jeans and carrying glittery posters. The majority of them can't drive and begged rides off mom and dad to attend their first concert. This is the scene when the Backstreet Boys come to Iowa City. Approximately 80 percent of the sold-out concert of 16,000 people was made up of minors, fueling campus criticism of SCOPE for not finding a more college-oriented band, said Ryan Barker, the SCOPE director. "We got a lot of flak when it was announced that Backstreet Boys was coming but I don't care," he said. "It;s the biggest act in music today." The six middle-school-aged girls who arrived at the concert with Kay McCafferty of Geneseo, Il., had no complaints about the choice of bands. "My daughter is the biggest Backstreet Boys fan," she said. Although University of Iowa junior Matt Schultz and his friend Scott Tanner of Mason City were among the few male attendees, they still enjoyed themselves at the concert. "People make fun of me, but I don't care. I love the Backstreet Boys," Schultz said. But for some UI students, the Backstreet Boys just provided the opportunity for a pleasant evening, "We don't even know the names of the Backstreet Boys, but we just wanted to have fun," said UI senior Becky Maack. Tickets for the concert went on sale on AUg. 14, nine days before the UI classes started, and sold out in 45 minutes. SCOPE was powerless to make ticket sales more convenient for UI students," Barker said. "There was nothing we could do about it," he said. The group is the third concert to be held at Carver this year, after the arena had stayed out of the big band circuit for five years. "We've been working friggin' hard to get people to come to Iowa City, and it's finally paying off," Barker said. Comment on this item. Next Item: Denver Rocky Mountain Review: 10/31/99 Denver, CO Prev Item: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Review: 11/04/99 Milwaukee, WI