Fans chastise critic for failing to harmonize with Backstreet Boys

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Dec 03, 2099 Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Submitted By: SWilleat@aol.com Posted: Thursday, December 2, 1999 | 8:47 a.m. By Kevin C. Johnson When the Backstreet Boys return to St. Louis on March 7 to perform at the Trans World Dome, chances are another critic will review it, which should please the act's fans. After my recent review of the act when it appeared in a sold-out show at Kiel Center, I received lots of e-mail questioning my judgment. Back to that in a moment. Tickets for the Dome concert go on sale Saturday. And judging how quickly fans snapped up 20,653 seats for the Kiel event, the group should have no problem selling more than twice as many for the dome. I've caught the Backstreet Boys twice, and can't see having anything else to say about the act and its dubious talents. Another reviewer may get a different take on the group. For Backstreet Boys fans, any negative comment is unacceptable. Response to my Nov. 19 review elicited more mail than anything I've ever written. Dozens of e-mails were fired my way, all apparently from girls and young women, some from their mothers, most criticizing me for criticizing the group. Most of the e-mails came from the St. Louis area, but there were several from places as far away as Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Florida, Montreal and Holland. The out-of-state e-mails were the result of my review being posted on an unofficial though very popular Backstreet Boys fan Web site. The passion expressed was incredibly surprising. Geri told me to get a life. Kristin said I was harsh. Nicky wonders what the group ever did to me. An unidentified e-mailer figured I was divorced, bitter and 40 (not true on any of those counts). Jenny said my life is messed up, I'm a jealous loser and cursed me. Brandi thinks that my opinions shouldn't be published, and also cursed me. Tina didn't understand why a man would review a boy band. Anne-Marie issued a challenge for me to get on stage and do what the Backstreet Boys do. Mary said if I don't have anything nice to say about the group, don't say anything at all. (Hello, Mary, I'm a critic.) Fans such as Pamie, Sadia and others informed me that the fellows had the flu, hence the subpar vocal performance. Some fans such as Erin and Monica advised me to listen to the Backstreet Boys singing the National Anthem at a Detroit Pistons game as proof that they can sing, and sent an attached file containing the music. Unfortunately, those fans didn't do a good job of making their case. Several e-mailers also took offense at the generalization that the Backstreet Boys are a teeny-bopper group, declaring that the act appeals to more than 14-year-old girls. Can't argue with the fact that the act does have older fans. Still, the vast majority of its fan base are young girls, and there's nothing wrong with that. One mother, Vicki, who attended the Kiel show with her daughter, said the $90 she paid for two tickets was well-spent, and the only review she needed was the look of delight on her daughter's face every time the group was on stage. Can't argue with that assessment, either. If a critic is not impressed by the Backstreet Boys, that's OK. We're entitled to our opinions as are the group's fans. We don't have to love the group as its fans do. What we look for in a show may be different than what a fan is expecting. Our job is to write about what we see, and not what a fan wants us to see. My feelings regarding the talent of the Backstreet Boys don't mean I'm in the wrong profession, jaded or jumping on a backlash bandwagon. Nor does it mean that I'm a bad person, stupid or that I have an automatic aversion to boy groups, which a few fans thought. Hey, I like 98 Degrees. Curiously, the e-mails only harped on the negative elements of the review and made no references to anything positive said, such as the fact that Howie Dorough stood out as a singer, that the entire group came off better during the stripped-down portion of the show or that the show's eye-popping opening sequence was a real grabber. In three years, after these fans have ditched the Backstreet Boys and moved on, as their big sisters did earlier in the decade with New Kids on the Block, it would be interesting to see whether they feel the same way as they do now. My thanks to the one person who wrote commenting on the boldness it took to stand up in the face of such passionate fans. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: Lmkvkxfu You should never handle the payback check prepared against your savings account?, Comment on this item. Next Item: A 29-year-old's guilty pleasure? Would you believe the Backstreet Boys? Prev Item: Fan Club Tidbits: Howie's reading scripts, Kevin's Shagadelic, AJ's Panic Attack