The date is October 26th, 1999. The place? The Tacoma Dome, just outside of Seattle Washington. The reason? A purchased "invitation" to the house party of the century: just yours truely, five Backstreet Boys, and a couple thousand of their OTHER closest friends. :0)
Yes, you heard me correctly, Jessi and Kel of BACKSTREET MANIA ventured out among 32,000 teenyboppers, their parents, and siblings to attend the biggest event to hit Seattle since the Stones came back earlier in the year. The entree of the evening (five Orlando men with enough talent in their little fingers to whip the pants off of all those other "boy groups") really hit the spot, attracting three radio stations to broadcast live, several local television news reporters, and -oh yeah- all those screaming fans. A phenomenon if I ever saw one.
What is it about these men that causes us to blow almost an entire paycheck on tickets, merchandise, and a new outfit (nessecary in the off chance that we should "run in" to our dream dates!)? I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with AJ's sexuality, Howie's bedroom eyes, Kevin's luscious upper body, Brian's sweet southern lovemaking to the crowd, and Nick's quirky, cute grin. Either that, or those "melt-me-into-a-happy-lil-puddle-of-goo" love songs they croon oh so smoothly. Better yet, it's the hip gyrating, booty shakin', heart breakin' jams that make a woman wanna....well, you know. :0)
Regardless of the reason, the Boys acted as a magnetic pole for the northwest, and not even I was able to resist (not that I tried very hard, mind you). Right from the very beginning, those five precious bodies on stage captivated my attention to the very core. Though not close enough to see 'em sweat, our seats were definitely some of the best in the house, very near the floor. So near, in fact, I felt my hormones slipping into overdrive whenever the heat from Sweet D became almost too much. So distracted was I, that my mind completely forgot the fact that a girl no more than six and her mother were seated next to me. AJ thrust his hips and I screamed for him to....nevermind. Let's just say the mother looked slightly horrified and inched her daughter to the OPPOSITE side away from me. Really, I'm sure I wasn't THAT bad (though I can almost guarantee that Kel will tell you differently! *lol*).
Their swoonworthy features aside, the music was unbelieveable, standing up surprisingly well all things considered. There were no fancy editing machines present, and really, the Boys didn't need them. I give them an A+ all the way around. I felt that the presentation order of the songs was very well done, though I would have liked to see one or two more upbeat songs near the finale. But other than that, the experiance was mind blowing, an entirely better performance than their 1998 tour (which I also attended). More pyros, more lights, more pizazz! You name it, they've got it! Their entrance was a nice touch, Kevin outstanding in his role as "wing commander". Very sexy indeed.
The two biggest surprises of the evening were heavily felt by yours truely. The first pleasant discovery was regarding Nick's evolution into a very well-rounded performer. The lil tyke we saw in 1998 simply cannot compare to the dashing man we swooned over this Millennium tour. Nick works the crowd much more adeptly than he has in years past, with a maturity completely unexpected. In my opinion, he's still got a ways to go to catch up to AJ and Howie, but it's a vast improvement.
The second surprise came when I stepped back and realized that the dancers didn't annoy me as greatly as they have on the television appearances. In fact, they are quite visually stimulating and enhance the performance much more than previously expected. To spite their presence, I was still able to pick the Boys out of the "crowd", much to my relief. Also a pleasure was the abscence of the dancers during the afore mentioned "puddle 'o goo" ballads.
There were two highlights of the evening in my eyes, moments which stole the entire show. The first being that gorgeous, prisine, grand piano drifting slowly from the sky to the stage. Even more wonderful, were Kevin's fingertips tickling the ivories, particularly on his lyric-less solo piece (Mindy was great accompaniment as well!), and "Back To Your Heart". The other, more show stopping moment, was the arrival of a close friend of the Boys, MC D. Though I've always been a fan of such artists as Biggie Smalls, Puffy, and a lil 2pac, MC D has stolen my heart! For any curious MANIAcs, I am quitting my day job to apply at "Wanna-be-a-rapper Records" as MC D's personal assistant.
Other poignant and memorable moments include Howie's dedication of "Show Me The Meaning" to Caroline and Dennis, Kevin's introduction and his innocent question "So, is Tacoma Seattle too?" (For the record, NO ONE lives in Tacoma. The majority of us were VERY patriotic Seattalites! Imagine the response his question drew.), AJ and Howie's backflips on the wires (Boy, that black leather really brings out their *content has been edited for it's innappropriate nature, please stand by*), and countless other little touches that made October 26th a night to remember.
In closing, the Backstreet Boys' take-over of Seattle was successful, as not a single person resisted, especially not I. After spending an obscene amount of money on merchandise that I have no idea what to do with, I can honestly say I came away happy. After all, Howie, black leather, and pole dancing are the stuff dreams are made of. This Hootchie's dreams, anyway.
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MANIA is not responsible for any circuits that were fried in Jessi's brain due to excess stimulation as a result of her Millennium Experiance. Donations to the "Rehabilitate Howie Hootchie #3" fund may be called in to: 1-800-SAVE-JES
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