The Backstreet Boys, down a man but still a draw, did their best to rekindle their late-'90s heyday at a sold-out Ravinia on Sunday.
Like a boxer again lured out of retirement, the onetime boy band champs came out swinging. The quartet delivered its opening salvo, "Larger Than Life," decked out like prizefighters in robes and gym trunks; the dance moves echoed the look, the singers trading choreographed blows in a makeshift ring. Pared down to a foursome following the 2006 departure of Kevin Richardson, remaining players Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough worked through a high-energy 100-minute set that drew on the entirety of the group's 15-year career.
There was little subtlety in the Boys' sound; this was a night of soaring choruses and overwrought emotion. Nearly every song traded on issues of heart, some, like "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," more literally than others. The group's appeal to the primarily female audience was clear from the onset; the hopeless romantics crooned every word as if perched on bended knee, singing: "I'll never break your heart"; "I can't get you out of my head"; "I'd rather die than live without you."
And even though the Boys are now men (with an average age nearing 32), its fan base appeared as if it hadn't aged a day. The capacity crowd was dominated by shrieking teenage girls—with the lung capacity of Olympic swimmers. Unfortunately, the group's lung power couldn't quite match that of its audience (Dorough, for one, appeared to run out of gas well before the performance drew to a close). Not that the breathlessness wasn't hard-won. The set's quick pacing and non-stop dancing would have challenged most aerobic instructors.
Breaking up the set were ill-advised solo ventures that ranged from forgettable (Dorough's flamenco-tinged effort) to hilarious (McLean's "Drive-By Love" could have been a Spinal Tap B-side). Unlike other boy bands, Backstreet never had a member go it alone successfully, a trend that, judging by the evening, is likely to continue.
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