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Kathleen Marie

My offer to see the Backstreet Boys came on a day when I was feeling particularly raw, after therapy. Like the subject of many a BSB song, I had tears drying on my face when Mercury Music Editor Jenni Moore asked, “Does anyone still like the Backstreet Boys?”

"Oh yes. I am BSB army, or whatever the fan army is called," I replied, embracing a desire to—much like the subject of many a BSB song—be true to my emotions and live life to its fullest. I am obviously not actually a great or true fan, but I was pretty obsessed with the group in junior high. And that was how I came to be at the Backstreet-fan-filled Moda Center, ready to watch my first arena-sized show. I guess I did see Carmen's "Addicted to Jesus" tour in '92. Okay, second arena show.

There was a moment in the late ’90s when I was watching music videos after school and Backstreet’s “As Long As You Love Me” came on. Oh shit, I thought. In that moment, I knew grunge was over because—whatever this was—people were going to lose their minds over this. For the rest of my youthful years I pretended (unconvincingly) to hate boy bands. I overcorrected into industrial music servitude, but lingered a bit too long when “Shape of My Heart” came on the radio.

In the ’00s my crusty punk friends set me free with their homemade instrument sing-a-long cover of “As Long As You Love Me” and “The Call.” At the end of the day, whatever music you like doesn’t actually make you cool. Backstreet Boys' hits are catchy and fun to sing. Most of their singles were written by mysterious Swedish producer Max Martin, who is third place in history for writing the most number one singles, after John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

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Kathleen Marie

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Kathleen Marie

The 2019 Backstreet Boys record DNA totally slaps. There are about three types of songs on the record: songs where the Backstreet boys are happy and in love, songs where the Backstreet Boys are experiencing conflict in their middle-aged romances, and songs about being SEXY. And throughout the concert there was a noticeable Magic Mike tone to the performances. At one point, AJ Mclean asked the crowd if they wanted, "The PG-13 or the R[-rated] version" of a dance that turned out to be just him gyrating his fully clothed butt off the edge of the stage.

Before I get too ahead of myself, I should note that the opener for Backstreet at the Moda Center was none other than Baylee Littrell—sixteen-year-old son of Brian Littrell. I'm not super interested in making fun of a sixteen-year-old kid's fledging music attempts. But it's weeeird to hear a sixteen-year-old try to sensually sing about "cookin’ in a t-shirt / Looking like risky business on a Sunday" to a stadium full of adults in their 30s, some of whom have already put on their two-piece Backstreet Boy pajamas. Okay, maybe that's about right.

Breaking down the Backstreet audience, we appeared to be predominantly homeroom teachers and cool moms. I saw more than one guy in a Limp Bizkit shirt, presumably dragged there (and into $200 seats!) by their partner, but still actively involved in the decades-old Bizkit vs. boy band conflict. Backstreet Boys hit the stage pretty promptly at 9:15 pm, around when the grade school aged children (in $200 seats!) in front of me curled up and fell asleep. They stayed asleep through the rest of the show, despite it starting out LOUD and staying SO LOUD.

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Kathleen Marie

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Kathleen Marie

The Backstreet Boys have incredible performance energy. When the stage pulled back to reveal even more stage, and eventually the Backstreet Boys, it was like seeing Super Saiyans or some other kind of magical cartoon fighter. Their entertainer auras were off the charts. They opened with "I Wanna Be With You," a deep cut from their first record, before segueing into a more well known hit, "The Call."

What the Backstreet Boys were doing on stage wasn't exactly dancing, but it was a step above stomping and people were into it. The crowd was so amped up that, at one point, when things slowed down for a moment, and AJ said, "Hi" to a member of the audience, I fully expected her to explode. Within several songs, my hearing was shot, but the spectacle was still breathtaking. "Wow, they never use the same laser twice!" I yelled to my friend. And they never did.

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Kathleen Marie

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Kathleen Marie

The show was peppered with pauses where one or two of the boys would take a little one-on-one time with a couple thousand people. Nick Carter's was by far the most disturbing. “Do you still like us?" he asked the audience. "Cuz we still like you.” I couldn't tell if this was because he learned all his moves in the magic kingdom, or if that's just how BSB fans like it: junior high locker note style. What I think doesn't really matter because I was immediately overruled by ten-thousand adults affirming that they did in fact still like Nick Carter.

A little past the halfway point, Kevin and AJ got dressed in changing rooms on stage (another junior high fantasy come to life) and threw some signed underwear into the audience. It was the most G-rated Magic Mike moment I'd ever seen. Then I got a big yawn at 10:30, on the dot, right as the group started up the decades old jazz hat routine we're all familiar with. Oh yeah, I might sound snarky, but I know all the old moves.

Seeing BSB live turned out to be like watching a Disney-version pole dance for moms, wherein Brian Littrell tried to playdate his son with his fan's kids (definitely a clever idea!), but I can't say that it wasn't fun. I'm still thinking about their songs. "Chances" from DNA is a terrific dance hit, and I was happy to hear it, along with "Shape of My Heart," "Larger Than Life" (which they closed with), and many others. The songs were consistently reproduced versions of the ones on their albums so seeing the Backstreet Boys live felt like watching Backstreet Boys: The Musical, a multi-stage production about these five guys who hope you still like them. Do you? Please check: Yes☐ No☐ Maybe☐?