Primed for a dad-daughter evening with the Boys

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 13, 2099 Source: The Ottawa Citizen Submitted By: Saturday 13 November 1999 Jay Stone The Ottawa Citizen Two years ago, my daughter Laura, who is now 15, and her friend Merrill, vowed that if The Backstreet Boys ever came to Ottawa, they would be first in line for tickets. It was announced this summer that the group was going to play at the Corel Centre, but to avoid mob scenes, tickets went on sale on the Internet. Laura and Merrill got into cyberline, but by the time they got through, five hours later, the best seats were gone. They went to plan B, the pre-computer method of calling someone with connections, and the mother of a friend got them into the fourth row. Thus began my apprenticeship into the world of The Backstreet Boys, although I had already been exposed to them, by osmosis, through posters and calendars on my daughter's bedroom wall. The impeding concert, however, threw this into a higher gear. Laura and Merrill took turns decorating their lockers at school with notices that would creatively announce how many days were left until The Concert, a process that meant the Scotch tape and Magic Markers were always missing from the kitchen drawer. The radio seemed to be playing more Backstreet Boys songs, and so did Laura. She would confront me with quizzes, in a tone pitched precariously between irony and enthusiasm. "Which one is your favourite?" she would say, showing me a picture of what looked like five 11-year-old boys in baggy pants. "I don't know," I would say, or sometimes, "No thanks, I've already eaten." This is my all-purpose response to many questions now that my hearing has entered middle age. It usually turns out that the question was, "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" "Which one?" "They're all good," I would try. "You have to pick one." "Okay, this one," I said, indicating a blond boy whom I took to be the teenage ideal. I hoped this would classify me as "cool," or at least less "gross" than usual. Later, I would hear Laura on the phone. "My dad thinks Nick is the cutest," she would be telling someone who I hoped wasn't from Frank magazine. Then, after a pause, she would tell me, "Merrill likes A.J.," as if inviting me into a debate on the subject. Occasionally, Laura would say, "Guess how many days left to go." I would have to be careful because if I said 60 and it turned out the answer was 42, Laura would be disappointed that I couldn't see how quickly time was passing. After a while, I always answered, "No thanks, I've already eaten." By the time 60 days had passed, or 42, I knew several things about the Backstreet Boys: 1. There are five of them. 2. The blond one is named Nick. 3. They are not the same as The New Kids on the Block, although I still believe you would have to be a metaphysician to tell the difference. 4. They can dance in that chest-pounding, finger-pointing way so carefully calibrated to irritate parents, while singing catchy pop tunes. 5. One of their songs is called I Want It That Way, and it lingers in your subconscious longer than a soda pop commercial. Some of the lyrics are, "I never want to hear you say/I want it that way," the meaning of which it does not pay to contemplate. 6. To be a real fan, you are pretty well committed to 24-hour-a-day viewing of MuchMusic -- or, as we familiars know it, Much -- in case we catch a glimpse of the boys, or, as was the case Thursday night, a 44-minute press conference at which we could assess their current look. This leaves precious little time for us to do our homework. Thus armed, I was deemed to know as much as anyone, and was assigned to review the concert along with Laura, who would provide the expert commentary. And so it was that I headed to the Corel Centre last night for the first pop music concert I had attended in approximately 10 years, having blotted out most of the details of that Black Sunday when Vanilla Ice appeared at the Ottawa Ex. I was by no means a Backstreet Boys aficionado, but I was not without my resources: I knew one song, I could recognize Nick, and my hearing was pretty much shot anyway. See tomorrow's Citizen for reviews of the Backstreet Boys concert by Jay Stone and his daughter Laura. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: johnansaz http://imrdsoacha.gov.co/silvitra-120mg-qrms Comment on this item. Next Item: Backstreet mania hits capital Prev Item: Pop Notes from The Buffalo News