It's official--the BACKSTREET BOYS have made history yet again.
As their record-shattering, 12-million selling MILLENNIUM album returns to the #1 position in America this week, all 765,000 tickets for their greatly anticipated 11-week, 39-city North American arena tour sold out as soon as they went on sale Saturday, August 14--the vast majority within an hour.
This firestorm of activity at the box office for the 'Sears Presents Backstreet Boys Into The Millennium Tour'--which runs September 14-December 2--is unprecedented in the concert business, underlining what the LOS ANGELES TIMES has already described as "Millennium Mania." An estimated $30 million in ticket sales were generated despite the comparatively low and fan-friendly price for a show and production of this kind. Tickets for most concerts along the tour are $38.50 and $28.50, including all fees (except for any TicketMaster surcharges).
Beyond the first 40 dates selling out, 13 additional shows were instantly put on sale to accommodate the unparalleled demand for tickets, which had fans lining up days in advance all over the country. These extra shows represent an additional night in the following markets: Fort Lauderdale, Washington DC, Boston, East Rutherford, Uniondale, Philadelphia, Chicago, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Salt Lake City, plus two shows in Detroit. In the New York area alone, the BACKSTREET BOYS--NICK CARTER, HOWIE DOROUGH, BRIAN LITTRELL, AJ McLEAN and KEVIN RICHARDSON--are now performing a total of four shows (two each at Nassau Coliseum and Continental Arena). Meanwhile, an additional show in Las Vegas went on sale late in the weekend.
This North American trek follows the group's triumphant 42-city European summer trek. The action-packed two-hour concert--which features elaborate, state of the art staging, lighting, pyrotechnics and costume changes--is being presented in the round with unobstructed views for all fans. The set list will feature nearly 20 songs (including their current Top Ten smash "I Want It That Way"). This leg of the tour will surpass that of the already elaborate European productions, including four additional lighting trusses each positioned in a corner of the arena.
How do the BACKSTREET BOYS describe their live performance? As KEVIN recently told Gary Graff of Wall of Sound: "Being that the album is titled Millennium, we're going to make the show a futuristic trip. We're calling it 'Into the Millennium,' and I think people are going to be really shocked when they see it. It's going to be like a journey; when you walk into the arena, there's going to be an atmosphere. I feel like we're going to take people somewhere." AJ adds: "We'll perform in the round. That way everyone can see us. We have 10 dancers--five guys and five girls--and a six-piece band." NICK continues: "We wanted to step up to another level because our last tour was pretty successful. But we also wanted to set trends and just be on that next level, so hopefully that's what this tour will do for us."
Meanwhile, the group were back home in Orlando, FL last week to shoot the video for their upcoming single "Larger Than Life." The song --co-written by the group's Brian Littrell--will be the second release from the MILLENNIUM CD (Jive), which has been positioned at #1 on the BILLBOARD charts for the majority of the last two months. The "Larger Than Life" video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who also lensed the video for "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."
source: peeps.com