From Boys to men
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
Wednesday march 15, 2000
Source: http://www.canoe.ca/Jam/home.html
When you pick up tomorrow's Sun and see a Backstreet Boys concert review, you might think, "Hey, weren't those guys just here?"
Well yes, and with the exact same show, no less.
Pop music's reigning boy band, who sold out Hamilton's Copps Coliseum last night and SkyDome tonight in less than one hour, brought their heavily costumed and choreographed Millennium production here a mere five months ago. That show, Nov. 11 at SkyDome, sold out in 28 minutes.
Apparently, their fans haven't tired of them just yet.
All you had to do was watch Sunday night's Juno Awards, where A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough accepted a trophy for best-selling (30-million) album for their latest release, Millennium, and hear the screams from the audience.
"Canada was the first country to accept us with open arms," said Howie backstage later. "We're always very grateful to you guys and you'll always have a special place in our hearts."
Still, I can't help wondering how long the honeymoon will last, as the Backstreet Boys become Backstreet Men. Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell recently got engaged to their girlfriends, while McLean's edgier solo project, Johnny No-Name, is about to go on a 10-city U.S. tour for charity.
Jive Records, the Backstreet Boys label, is obviously counting on longevity. It signed the five singer/dancers to a reported US$60 million dollar contract for five records.
In fact, once they wrap up this second leg of their Millennium tour in T.O. tonight, the Boys will get cracking on an album expected to be released sometime this fall -- with another tour
"They're going to go into the studio and do some recording," said Stephanie Robertson, director of national marketing for Zomba Records in Canada. "I'm not really sure about summer tour plans yet. But the thing that's really exciting is the Backstreet Project, which is the comic involvement with Stan Lee Media. It's pretty cool. They're all characters and they've been created as cartoons."
In a kind of reverse-Archies, the Backstreet Boys have been turned into superheroes by Lee, (Spider Man), for a comic book series. The first one, Menace Of The Death Queen, has been available at concerts and on Internet at www.backstreetproject.com. There are also plans to launch the animated series version on the Internet by the summer.
"We start off as five performers on stage and we see a ship fly over the sky and we get amulets that pull our inner fantasies out and we develop powers," Backstreet Boy and comic-book co-creator Nick Carter recently told USA Today.
"There are a lot of females in our audience, and (comics) are a really cool way to get guys involved," Carter said in TIME.
The Backstreet Boys' large female following has led to major putdowns, with everyone from Ben Stiller to Howard Stern taking shots. Stern calls them the Backside Boys.
But both Howie and A.J. said backstage at the Junos that they don't mind the abuse and are even going to appear, with their other bandmates, on Stern's show on April 11.
"We really enjoyed his song, Get K-Y," said McLean of Stern's parody of the Boys song I Want It That Way in which the line "Tell me why," is changed to "Get K-Y."
"It's all about being light-hearted," added Dorough. "It's kind of flattering when people want to poke fun at you."
What they'll likely play
Larger Than Life
Get Down (You're The One For Me)
The One
As Long As You Love Me
Don't Wanna Lose You Now
Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)
Don't Want You Back
The Perfect Fan
Back To Your Heart
Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
We've Got It Goin' On
That's The Way I Like It
Spanish Eyes
I'll Never Break Your Heart
No One Else Comes Close
All I Have To Give
Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely
Encores:
It's Gotta Be You
I Want It That Way
-- with files from Kieran Grant
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