(The Express-Times, January 26, 2001)
By ALEX VEIGA
SUNRISE, Fla.--Eager to reclaim their place atop the pile of boy bands, the Backstreet Boys opened their world tour witha show mixing harmony driven pop and dance with playful asides that worked fans into a frenzy.
Among the first 30-plus stops of their world tour, the Backstreet Boys will perform Tuesday and Wednesday at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.
Both shows are sold out.
The Boys--Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean, and Kevin Richardson--delivered a 90-minute, 21-song set Monday, made up of songs from their latest album "Black & Blue," and two previous records, "Millennium" and "Backstreet Boys."
"It's hot in here tonight," Richardson told the crowd. "It's good to be back in teh saddle again in front of all you peopel, and it's good to feel your love."
Thousands of blue glow stick-twirling fans, mostly adolescent girls, joined baby boomers and their children for the first of 36 North American concerts.
The Boys return to the United States for a second tour in August.
Staci Zavattaro, 17, brought her 47-year-old mother Nancy to the show as a Valentine's Day gift.
"She's sort of a closet fan," Zavattaro said.
The group, backed by a six-piece band and nine dancers, kicked off the show with "Everyone," off "Black & Blue." They swiftly followed that with "Larger Than Life," one of the big hits off 1999's "Millennium," and then slipped into a mellower gear with several R&B ballads.
During their dance numbers, the band performed some light choreography, but for the most part let a supporting crew of nine dancers show of their routines.
The show-stopper came about 10 songs into the set, when the group invited the audience to watch during one of their half-dozen wardrobe changes.
"Do you like these outfits we're wearing now?" McLean asked. "Why don't you guys come down into our dressing rooms and watch us change?"
The audience erupted, and the Boys, one by one, piled into a wardrobe "trunk" and disappeared beneath the stage. A back-drop doubling as a projection screen showed the group changing shirts and hamming it up.
The Boys emerged to perform a few ballads, including "How Did I Fall In Love With You?" and "Time," extending their arms and pointing randomly at the audience many of whom tried to get closer.
"I'm not going to sleep tonight," said Nenette Dameus, 15, of Fort Lauderdale.
The Backstreet Boys closed the show with three dance-heavy numbers, "Backstreet's Back" of their debut album, "Get Another Boyfriend" and "The Call," before vanishing and returning for one encore, "Shape of My Heart."
The band will tour in South America in April, then tour through Europe in June before returning to the States. The Black & Blue tour concludes in the Pacific Rim with stops in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
The latest tour comes on the heels of their Into the Millennium tour, which saw the boy band sell 765,000 tickets in a 39-city, 11-week-long tour.
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