From boys to men

The punchy Backstreet Boys come out swinging for screaming fans at Rexall Place last night. (Jordan Verlage, Sun Media)

I was recently threatened by a grown woman, "You'd better not bash my Backstreet Boys!"

You shouldn't take this sort of thing lightly. One veteran Sun photographer told me that he has never feared for his life more than when he shot the Backstreet Boys. Not fires, not murder scenes, not gangsta rap concerts, but a boy band whose average fan weighed 80 pounds soaking wet. Wow.

All these years later, can these Backstreet Fully Grown Men still generate such feminine hysteria?

Which one is missing? Is it the one who had a successful solo career pretending to be black or the one who turned out to be gay? Or was that the other boy band? Have they aged to the point that they've changed their hit song to Everybody (Backstreet's ... Ow, My Back)? Will cheap jokes like this get me ripped to shreds by a mob of enraged 23-year-old women? (Well, a man can dream.)

These were just some of the questions I had coming into last night's show at Rexall Place.

Hysteria? Check. More than 9,000 little girls who grew up in the most delightful ways screamed their lungs out, just at a slightly lower pitch than one might have heard a decade ago.

They screamed when the boys made their entrance in boxing attire - group members Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and Nick Carter introduced as fighters (Kevin Richardson left the group two years ago) - with snips from Eye of the Tiger turning into the big opener Larger Than Life.

They screamed when the leather jackets came off for the first gooey love ballad, and for all the gooey love ballads that followed, including a new one, Inconsolable (which went No. 1 in Japan, if that means anything).

They screamed to the familiar strains of I Want It That Way. (What way? That way.) They screamed when Howie did a hip-swivelling tango in his Latin-flavoured solo tune, and when A.J. did his solo rocking out thing.

They screamed when the Backstreet Boys sang Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely while they sat around a table playing cards. And the women especially screamed when told they each would get a "big juicy kiss" if time permitted it. So, yes, they still got "it."

There was nothing to find fault with in this theatrical show. The choreography was flawless without looking forced. The pacing was perfect: dance song, rocker, ballad, another ballad, a bit of witty patter, repeat.

They performed as if they meant every sweet romantic nothing sung thousands of times before to millions of other screaming women. They went for it until they dripped with sweat.

They were gracious and charismatic, each showing their strengths and drawing screams in their own way.

They sang their own vocals - the odd bad note infinitely preferable to canned perfection - and had a real band back them up, one that tried its best to rock.

Of course, for all their talent and showmanship, they were still doing Backstreet Boys songs. Let's try to keep things in perspective here.

Opening acts are supposed to make the headliner look good - and Girlicious sure did the trick.

A karaoke set from this quartet of reality show winners was so obnoxious and contrived that they made the Backstreet Boys look like the Travelling Wilburys.

But sexy? You bet! Tight choreography designed to showcase tight booties was the order of the day, even if the music was horrible. The single is called Stupid S***. I think that says it all.

One thing: who exactly were they being sexy for in an arena full of women? Are they lesbians or just dumb? It's terribly confusing.

I never got to see the Backstreet Boys at the height of their popularity, when they played Commonwealth Stadium in 1998.

Some numbskull rear-ended me on the way to the show and I had a very relaxing ride in the ambulance thinking how lucky I was not to be at the Backstreet Boys concert.

And yet, a small part of me regretted missing such a momentous occasion that long decade ago. I hope last night's experience made up for it.

Happy now, world's biggest Backstreet Boys fan?

SOUNDCHECK

MAIN EVENT

Backstreet Boys

IN THE SEATS

9,400 in Rexall

NOTE PERFECT

Boy band turns to man band with pleasing results for thousands of screaming girls ... sorry, women.

RATING

4 out of 5

SOURCE: Edmontonsun.Com