One of the first things we heard about the concert on Tuesday morning was that the weather report said it would be thunderstorming all day. Since the Commonwealth show was in an open-air, outdoor stadium, this was incredibly bad news. There was a chance the Boys would cancel, but we went to wait anyway. The show would start at 7:30.

Since we had reserved seats, we didn't really have to wait in line, but we really wanted to get onto the floor, so we arrived at the stadium grounds at around 1:30 p.m. or so after picking up one of our friends. We found some friends in the long lineup and sat with them. We spent the six hours sitting around, talking, eating, and walking around the grounds. They were selling Backstreet merchandise, but it was pretty expensive so none of us got anything.

We managed to pass the time until an hour or two before the concert. When all three of us (Laura and I and our friend) were walking around, trucks started coming to the stadium. We were trying to see who it was through the van's tinted windows, and somebody waved. At first we thought it was them, but as we kept looking, we figured out it wasn't them. It was actually the dancers and the band, but we waved at them anyway. Soon after, they started the sound checks. Songs were being played in the Commonwealth to test the sound equipment, and it basically sounded like the group warming up. However, we later found out that the Boys didn't arrive until after 7:00pm, and that they had been rehearsing somewheres else. Nevertheless, a whole load of fans thought that the Boys were rehearsing in there, so they all surged to the gates. It was absolute pandamonium. People who had been camping out lost virtually all of their belongings, bags, clothes, drinks and food were all randomly placed around the stadium. Trying to get closer to the front, we of course went too, and managed to push about halfway up the lineup. In fact, we managed to get in front of people who had been there since 5:30am! We were waiting with all our stuff, and we still had about a two hour wait or so until they started letting people in. It was getting really crammed in there since the people at the end of the lineup kept pushing. There were also a few claustrophics in the lineup, which was really scary, but the security people managed to get them out. A girl next to us was absolutely bawling her eyes out and screaming, it was pretty scary.

Finally we got into the stadium. We finished everything quick before the concert - phone calls, bathroom breaks, and bought popsicles. We were in the sixth row, VIP section, which was really cool. Unfortunately we were just a bit too far away to see their faces clearly since the floor separated us from the stage, but they had set up huge video screens, so we were okay. At about 7:20, we see the crowd on the floor start screaming and moving to the right. So we glance over to see someone throwing and kicking a football. Our immediate reaction is oh, it's probably security. But since our curiousity got the better of us, both of us went to see who it was. The gates were really high, so we found a piece of wood that was placed under the tarp to step on. We looked over the gate to see Kevin! Boy, that was really something, we were really pumped then! He continued to throw the football, so we eventually made our way back to our seats.

Some people from the sponsors (Power 92 the radio station and The Edmonton Journal) did a welcome speech-type thing and AJ bounced onto the stage to say hello. The opening act was Nick's famous little bro, Aaron Carter. Our friend and us (me and Sabina), kind of weren't the biggest AC fans, if you catch my drift. But seriously, the rush of the concert made us love him. We cheered so damn loud it was crazy. First he sang "Crush On You" and he and his dancers (95 South) did a really good job. Then they got the entire crowd doing the "Shake It" and he sang that. Then he left the stage.

Backstreet came onto the stage at about 8:30. They opened with "That's The Way I Like It" and they did a really good job. They said all their hellos and everything. They did an a capella song together (Shai's "If I Ever Fall In Love"). They had a medley of a whole bunch of songs (including Next's "Too Close" and Puff Daddy's "All About The Benjamins") and they did a cool dance routine to it.

They each did a solo. Howie went first, wearing a pink silk shirt open in the front (he looked really really good), and he threw roses into the crowd. Then AJ was next, singing "Lay Down Beside Me." Kevin went after, and he sang "Nobody But You." Brian was after Kev, and he sang "That's What She Said" while he played the guitar. Nick was last, and he sang "Heaven In Your Eyes." If anyone has ever said that even one of them can't sing, they are absolutely, completely wrong. They each did a wonderful job.

Some of the songs they did were: All I Have To Give, Let's Have A Party, As Long As You Love Me, I'll Never Break Your Heart, Quit Playing Games (which they played their own instruments to), Anywhere For You, and their medley of Get Down and We've Got It Goin' On.

They did four encores, and their finale was "Everybody." They used the video screens for this. First, they played the beginning of the video where they're all entering the mansion. Then they played parts of the video (the extra parts from the extended version.) Then they came onstage with a few dancers. They were in upright coffins on wheels, then they were turned around and they stepped out and sang.

It was such a good concert, and it was definitely worth the wait. They sang well, they looked really good, they played their instruments well and the lighting and special effects were really cool. Our only regret was that we didn't try to get onto the floor and closer to the stage.