Pop band works hard for screaming fans
Heath McCoy, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, September 03, 2008Backstreet Boys, Tuesday at Pengrowth Saddledome. Attendance 9,000.
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A boxing ring!
To the strains of the hit Larger Than Life, the Backstreet Boys threw choreographed punches, their fists taped up for combat, Tuesday night during their Pengrowth Saddledome show.
I'm not kidding here. That's what the Backstreet Boys kicked off their show in on Tuesday night at the Saddledome. Nick, Brian, Howie and A.J. (minus Kevin who split a couple of years back) doing a kind of tough guy dance while decked out in fancy boxing robes.
To the strains of the hit Larger Than Life the lads threw choreographed punches, their fists taped up for combat as they sang that gushing pop jingle in perfect harmony.
It was a move as bold as it was embarrassing.
It was bold because, as ridiculous as the spectacle was, it immediately sent a message. It was a well-planted uppercut to the collective jaw of all the skeptics out there -- and I'm one of them -- who have been writing the group off from day one.
Backstreet's not supposed to be back! Not a decade after their heyday. Their audience of little girls was supposed to grow out of their music and forget about them. They were supposed to go away like David and Shaun Cassidy went away in decades past.
But they didn't. They're still here, and even though they're not selling CDs by the multi-millions the way they used to, there was still enough buzz to attract 9,000 people to the 'Dome on Tuesday night, most of them screaming, giddy females. There were those who screamed for the Boys 10 years ago, and a new generation who screamed every bit as loud as their big sisters.
And the hard-working Backstreeters earned every one of those screams, from the sugar pop explosion of Everybody and the synthetic funk of Any Other Way to a massive version of I Want It That Way.
Ever the showmen, the Boys even walked out into the front rows to plant a few kisses on their hysterical fans.
Even if you didn't dig their music -- and there was a few eye-rolling dudes out there who were certainly dragged to the 'Dome by their dates -- you had to admit, it was the sort of world-class display of kiddy pop that the American Idol types would kill to match.
But back to the boxing ring and the embarrassing bit.
For one, anybody who saw this spectacle not moved to screams of excitement had to have been moved instead to a fit of the snickers.
With their sappy sweet love ballads and the slick, soulless R&B of their bubblegum pop, not to mention their pouty pinup boy posing, the Backstreet Boys are the complete opposite of rugged.
And while they may fuel romantic fantasies for females all around the world, you'd be hard pressed to describe the Backstreeters as sexy. They're more like cuddly, non-threatening Ken dolls.
But the thought of them duking it out in the ring is about as absurd as Michael Jackson playing the part of a gang member, as he did in the Beat It and Bad videos.
Then again, Michael left a crater-sized imprint on the pop culture landscape with those videos, and maybe, just maybe, the Backstreet Boys have left a lasting mark too.
Tuesday night at the 'Dome suggested as much.
Oh, the horror.
Opening for the Backstreet Boys was Girlicious, a four-piece outfit that seemed like a bargain basement Pussycat Dolls, which is exactly what they are.
The group was created on a reality TV series, (The Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious), by the same fellow that manufactured the Pussycats.
And if you thought that guy's vision had its limitations the first time around, steer clear of Girlicious at all costs because their bubble-headed pop and unimpressive cheerleader-cum-stripper dance moves make the Pussycats look and sound like The Supremes.
That didn't matter a bit though. All the ladies in the house were there for one thing only -- a thrilling walk down Backstreet, and that's exactly what the Boys gave 'em.
hmccoy@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008
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