Post Herald Review: 11/23/99 Birmingham, AL

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 25, 2099 Source: Birmingham Post-Herald Submitted By: NJ423@aol.com Reporter swept away in BSB mania By ERIN SHAW BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD It's difficult to escape the Backstreet Boys, but nearly impossible to get close to them. Philip Holman/Post-Herald Backstreeet Boy Howie Dorough works the sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Love them, hate them, it doesn't matter. The Backstreet Boys have a hold on daughters and granddaughters, nieces and sisters. They even have a hold on some adults. Most of us have heard about their fancy, effects-filled, sci-fi themed epic of a 39-city tour to promote their new album, "Millennium." And nearly 20,000 fans saw them perform Tuesday night in Birmingham. Checking out any Web site or magazine devoted to one of the Boys will give you more than enough information on their every like and dislike. So the Birmingham Post-Herald enlisted me to bring you the other side of the BSB story, the story of the fans, the people who fuel the phenomenon. I embarked on this mission with my sister, Megan, a 17-year old John Carroll High School student, a Backstreet fan and my link to the younger crowd. Of course, at the ripe old age of 23, I was too sophisticated to be a fanatic about this teeny-bopper phenomenon — or that's at least what I wanted my friends to think. Leather jacket on, lemonade money in pocket and notebook in hand, I was going to get to the bottom of all things Backstreet — but from the fans' perspective. There would be no interviews with the group, no backstage passes, just a sold-out crowd at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. *** It is a little after 6 p.m. when I talk to an agitated Chris Samms, a junior at Clay-Chalkville High School. Samms wants to see the Backstreet Boys to learn some moves for his own singing group, Unison. But instead, he is stuck standing outside the BJCC, ticketless, and out $10 for parking. The brown-haired boy grimaces at his friend, Justin Alexander, 17, also a member of Unison. The five-member group performs Backstreet Boys songs along with other music at school functions and weddings. Alas, they are trapped in a sea of mostly preteen girls and their mothers, clutching their passports to the sold-out show. There is little hope. "Get me some Prozac," Samms says, head down, shoulders hunched, ready to walk back to the car. *** Joey Riley likes Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean so much, he's copied most of McLean's moves — and more. "If he's done it, I've done it," Riley, 24, a Rainsville resident, tells my sister and me. He points to a tattoo on his right forearm, similar to one sported by the heavily tattooed McClean. He's dyed his hair to match McLean's, too. Green hair, black hair, purple hair — none of it bothers Riley's bride of one month, Laura, 22, who stands by his side. "She's more embarrassed than anything else," Riley says. A lifelong Metallica fan, Riley says he never thought he would like a pop group like the Backstreet Boys. Now he can't get enough. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, collecting pictures of the Boys and other guy groups like 'N Sync and 98 Degrees. Riley nods his head when he explains why he likes A.J. He sees a bit of himself in the crooner, the "bad boy" of the group. When asked about the group's staying power, he answers instantly. "They'll be around when I'm 40." *** The dads are on a mission. Although they'd never met before, the three men who lean against the wall near the will-call window develop an instant bond. Each clings to the slim chance they can score Backstreet tickets for their daughters. "I went to some good concerts," says Lee Hames, 56, recalling when he saw the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac at the BJCC. The Bessemer man arrived two hours before the show trying to buy a ticket for his daughter, Amy, 10. Hames passes the time talking with Doyle Bradley, 33, a Cullman resident trying to get a ticket for his 8-year-old daughter, Jennifer, and Allen Schmidt, 39, an Iowa City, Iowa, resident who brought his family to Birmingham for a recent NASCAR race. While on the remaining leg of his vacation, he thought he'd try to get tickets for his daughters, Kari, 10 and Amy, 12. "I haven't seen anything like this since New Kids (on the Block)," Bradley says. "No, this is bigger than New Kids," Schmidt says. A Federal Express truck pulls up to a nearby curb and all three dads turn their heads in its direction. Bradley jokes that the tickets have arrived. "I hope we get some. She'll be disappointed if we don't get in there," Hames says. *** For a minute, it looks like a baseball team has been dropped off in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it's no accident. The Phenix City All Stars, winners of the National Little League Championship, were invited to the concert, compliments of local promoter Bill Hubbard. Dressed in their orange-and-blue numbered jerseys are 12 boys, ages 11 to 13. Hubbard invited the team to the concert soon after tickets went on sale in August. He also arranged for them to spend the night at the Tutwiler Hotel. "Their sisters and all their girlfriends will never speak to them," says Jan Acuff, whose son, Alex, hit the first home run in the winning game in the national tournament. *** The men in the yellow shirts have tough jobs, which include joining hands to form a human chain to prevent thousands of fans from rushing the stage. Bradley Carlson has a different job, though: guarding the backstage entrance to the arena. "I'm not used to security being so tight," Carlson, 25, says while manning his post. "I'm just trying to go with the flow." His work is a challenge, especially with scores of curious fans trying to get a glimpse of their favorite group. Fans gather in masses around the tour buses, many staring through the lenses of disposable cameras. Little do the girls carrying flowers and placards know that only feet away, behind the doors that Bradley guards sit Back Street Boys Brian Littrell and Nick Carter, to whom endless Web pages, T-shirts and key chairs pay homage. *** My sister and I finally are admitted into the first 10 feet of the inner sanctum of the backstage area, right about where security guards body slam anyone who attempts to walk past. "Where are my tickets?" I mumble, pacing back and forth, notebook in hand. Doodling with my felt-tip pen, I feel my sister tug on my sleeve. "Erin, umm ... ah, umm ..." "What, Megan, what?" There they are! They — the Boys, of course — appear out of nowhere. Well, actually they walk out of the catering area. Brian Littrell and Nick Carter, two-fifths of the group that was on MTV every time I'd turned it on in the past year, two-fifths of the group that occupied a space in my car CD changer (that I played only when no one else was around), two-fifths of the group whose fans soon would temporarily disable my hearing — are mere feet away. As quick as they came, they are gone. *** The crowd is restless, ready to scream at the slightest puff from the smoke machine, at the movement of a crew member adjusting stage equipment. Tuscaloosa residents Lauren Barry, 7, and her mother, Michelle, 31, barely make it to their fifth-row seats in time to catch a few minutes of the opening act, teen act Mandy Moore. It's a big night for Lauren — her first concert. The second-grader sits patiently, glitter affixed to her cheeks. All her friends were envious when her father surprised her Thursday with the news that she could attend the show. He arranged for Lauren and her mother, eight months pregnant, to make the trip to Birmingham in a limousine. The limousine driver explained to them that if fans attacked the car they were to roll down the window and show that there were no Backstreet Boys inside. "I can't imagine what they must feel having all these screaming girls. It gives me chills," Michelle says. She and Lauren sit still during the performance of the second opening act, Express Yourself Clearly, a Backstreet-esque high energy group. "While they're backstage putting their clothes on, we're going to keep the house rocking," shouts one of the group's members. Lauren waits. Around 8:40 p.m., she and nearly 20,000 other fans get what they've been waiting for: The Boys. Tiny hands clasped around her mouth, Lauren climbs onto her chair. Shaking her hips, she sings all the words she knows, adding her own vocal style. "My love is all I have to give, without you I don't think I could live," she sings during one of the songs from the group's first album. The Boys work the stage, pointing at girls and waving, acting confident and coy and powerful all at once. They look in all directions as they extend their arms. But Lauren is intent on only one thing: taking it all in, attempting to catch the attention of just one of the boys. She waves — toward them, toward their likenesses on the huge screen overhead that broadcast the performance. *** A guidance counselor, a teacher and four anxious girls stand by the entrance of the Sheraton Hotel at the BJCC. The concert they'd been waiting so long for is over, and the girls from Childersburg Middle School are making one last attempt to get close to Brian, Nick, Kevin, A.J. and Howie. Guidance counselor Jennifer Riddle, mother of Ashley, 13, looks for anyone who could be remotely related to the Backstreet crew. Jennifer Riddle reminisces a bit about the crushes she had on musicians such as Elvis Presley, Donny Osmond and David Cassidy. For fellow parent and special education teacher, Susan McLain, it was Tommy James and the Shondells. They understand why the girls can't leave. "Kevin's my favorite. ... I didn't even know who he was until tonight," McLain says. "You should see him without his shirt on," one of the girls says, giggling. Ashley Riddle, Megan McLain, Emmie Pale, 12 and Sarah Richie, 13, hover near the hotel door. "We really like Brian ... No! Nick, A.J.," shout members of the group. The girls spot a young woman getting into a sporty car and driving away. "She's leaving, we gotta follow her. She's Brian's girlfriend, I know," several mutter, resigned. But they remain, bright-eyed despite the fact it's 11 p.m. The Backstreet Boys could, after all, arrive at any moment. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: snymrik Submitted by: ppionerka Comment on this item. 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