In A World Like This Concert Review, Holmdel, NJ
If you remember, a little while ago I was asking for advice about buying tickets for my first BSB concert. Well, it was this past Thursday night, and I had an amazing time.
We got there early, because Box Office Guy had recommended arriving around 4:30 so we could get decent parking. We actually snagged a fabulous spot, and were tailgating along with everyone else who was eating something before the show. People were playing BSB music and it was all very festive... until the meet & greets started, and it just so happened that we were parked close enough that we could actually hear them singing, which was awesome (couldn't hear them talking, but definitely could hear them singing.)
There were more men there than I had expected, although I think some of them were being drug by girlfriends/wives. (As we were in line to get through the gate I could hear one behind us saying "The blond one is Nick, right?")
Our seats were in the first Orchestra section, row 26, right on the center aisle. Good seats if you don't have to take into account the people in front bouncing and dancing throughout the entire thing. Seriously, I know it makes me sound like a cranky old bitch, but why pay that kind of money for a ticket if you're never going to sit down? And I was feeling cranky, because I was in the handicapped access row so no, there were a lot of people in the row who couldn't have "just stood up too" to see over their bobbing heads and waving arms.
Before anyone else came on Brian appeared with Baylee and (paraphrasing) asked us to put up our arms and applaud for him. Then Brian just left the kid out there alone, and Baylee performed two songs by himself. I can't remember what the first one was, but the second was Jackson Five's "One More Chance."
At 7 p.m. the opening act was DJ Pauly D, and I hated it. Hated it with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns. So much so that I left and went out to the concession area until he was done, because the sound level was an actual assault, even through ear plugs. (It is a good time to get in line for T-shirts.) Most of the audience seemed okay with it, but I can't help but think that he's a totally different genre than the Boys and doesn't fit.
The second act was Jesse McCartney and my God the girls were swooning. They knew every word of every song, and he and his two backup dancers were working it. Personally the only one of his songs that I'm familiar with was his encore, "Beautiful Soul."
And then finally around 9 p.m. the BSB.... it was just the five of them, no backup dancers, no distractions other than the lights behind them. (My friend described them like a spirograph gone crazy; the blobs were these constant kaleidoscopic images swirling around. Other than that once in a while there were filmed images of water, or desert, or rarely the planetary/moonscape theme they've got going on with this new album art.) There were also two large screens, one on either side of the stage.
The guys were in almost constant motion from the time they started. Occasionally, mostly before one of the songs from the new album, they'd take turns stepping forward and explaining the inspiration for it, but other than that they just kept moving and dancing. There were 2 brief breaks, about 2 minutes long for costume changes (and guys, what's up with the black gloves?) (during the second one they showed clips from the documentary that has been mentioned -- does anyone know when this is supposed to appear?) Once when Kevin was speaking he said that this particular concert was the first time that his son was seeing what his dad does (earlier when Baylee had been performing there was a child standing off to the edge of the stage, so I suspect that was Mason).
The songs performed when the take the VIP group onstage are a few lines a cappella from "Safest Place to Hide," and then they do an acoustic set of "10,000 Promises," "Madeleine," and "Quit Playing Games With My Heart." It was really lovely, actually. I adore their harmonies, and the audience had quieted down enough that they came through clearly.
The energy was building so that by the time they got to "The One" I swear it was like a revival meeting in the place. It must be a huge rush to stand in front of that and be able to command that kind of attention.
Nick was playing with the audience all night. Every time he moved, or flipped his jacket open, he'd make coy gestures and the screams would get louder. He was doing model poses along the catwalk and I couldn't help but sit there laughing. And oh my God the hip thrusting! Every song, appropriate or not. Even in "Show Me the Meaning!" He didn't take his shirt off at all, but he did pour a bottle of water over his head and shake it and the remainder of the bottle at the audience during the last number.
AJ was bouncing all over the place, walking on his hands at one point, and I'm pretty sure I saw him doing a cartwheel at the end. That looked like a lot of post-show adrenaline going on there.
Looking back, I think I saw the least of Howie due to the staging, then middling amounts of Brian (but oh I had really good views of him belting out some of his patented Brian long-notes, one of them down on his knees) and Kevin (and Kevin does some hip work too, which I had never noticed in the past), and I saw quite a bit of AJ and Nick. I can report in all honesty that all of them are even more handsome in person and that oh yeah, Nick's been working out.
So glad I finally got the chance to see them, and so glad I got to see them when it was all five of them again.
The Set List:
1. The Call
2. Don't Want You Back
3. Incomplete
4. Permanent Stain
5. All I Have to Give
6. As Long As You Love Me
7. Show 'Em What You're Made Of
8. Show Me the Meaning Of Being Lonely
9. Breathe
10. I'll Never Break Your Heart
11. We've Got It Goin' On
12. 10,000 Promises
13. Madeleine
14. Quit Playing Games With My Heart
15. The One
16. Love Somebody
17. More Than That
18. In A World Like This
19. I Want It That Way
First Encore:
20. Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
Second Encore:
21. Larger Than Life
We got there early, because Box Office Guy had recommended arriving around 4:30 so we could get decent parking. We actually snagged a fabulous spot, and were tailgating along with everyone else who was eating something before the show. People were playing BSB music and it was all very festive... until the meet & greets started, and it just so happened that we were parked close enough that we could actually hear them singing, which was awesome (couldn't hear them talking, but definitely could hear them singing.)
There were more men there than I had expected, although I think some of them were being drug by girlfriends/wives. (As we were in line to get through the gate I could hear one behind us saying "The blond one is Nick, right?")
Our seats were in the first Orchestra section, row 26, right on the center aisle. Good seats if you don't have to take into account the people in front bouncing and dancing throughout the entire thing. Seriously, I know it makes me sound like a cranky old bitch, but why pay that kind of money for a ticket if you're never going to sit down? And I was feeling cranky, because I was in the handicapped access row so no, there were a lot of people in the row who couldn't have "just stood up too" to see over their bobbing heads and waving arms.
Before anyone else came on Brian appeared with Baylee and (paraphrasing) asked us to put up our arms and applaud for him. Then Brian just left the kid out there alone, and Baylee performed two songs by himself. I can't remember what the first one was, but the second was Jackson Five's "One More Chance."
At 7 p.m. the opening act was DJ Pauly D, and I hated it. Hated it with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns. So much so that I left and went out to the concession area until he was done, because the sound level was an actual assault, even through ear plugs. (It is a good time to get in line for T-shirts.) Most of the audience seemed okay with it, but I can't help but think that he's a totally different genre than the Boys and doesn't fit.
The second act was Jesse McCartney and my God the girls were swooning. They knew every word of every song, and he and his two backup dancers were working it. Personally the only one of his songs that I'm familiar with was his encore, "Beautiful Soul."
And then finally around 9 p.m. the BSB.... it was just the five of them, no backup dancers, no distractions other than the lights behind them. (My friend described them like a spirograph gone crazy; the blobs were these constant kaleidoscopic images swirling around. Other than that once in a while there were filmed images of water, or desert, or rarely the planetary/moonscape theme they've got going on with this new album art.) There were also two large screens, one on either side of the stage.
The guys were in almost constant motion from the time they started. Occasionally, mostly before one of the songs from the new album, they'd take turns stepping forward and explaining the inspiration for it, but other than that they just kept moving and dancing. There were 2 brief breaks, about 2 minutes long for costume changes (and guys, what's up with the black gloves?) (during the second one they showed clips from the documentary that has been mentioned -- does anyone know when this is supposed to appear?) Once when Kevin was speaking he said that this particular concert was the first time that his son was seeing what his dad does (earlier when Baylee had been performing there was a child standing off to the edge of the stage, so I suspect that was Mason).
The songs performed when the take the VIP group onstage are a few lines a cappella from "Safest Place to Hide," and then they do an acoustic set of "10,000 Promises," "Madeleine," and "Quit Playing Games With My Heart." It was really lovely, actually. I adore their harmonies, and the audience had quieted down enough that they came through clearly.
The energy was building so that by the time they got to "The One" I swear it was like a revival meeting in the place. It must be a huge rush to stand in front of that and be able to command that kind of attention.
Nick was playing with the audience all night. Every time he moved, or flipped his jacket open, he'd make coy gestures and the screams would get louder. He was doing model poses along the catwalk and I couldn't help but sit there laughing. And oh my God the hip thrusting! Every song, appropriate or not. Even in "Show Me the Meaning!" He didn't take his shirt off at all, but he did pour a bottle of water over his head and shake it and the remainder of the bottle at the audience during the last number.
AJ was bouncing all over the place, walking on his hands at one point, and I'm pretty sure I saw him doing a cartwheel at the end. That looked like a lot of post-show adrenaline going on there.
Looking back, I think I saw the least of Howie due to the staging, then middling amounts of Brian (but oh I had really good views of him belting out some of his patented Brian long-notes, one of them down on his knees) and Kevin (and Kevin does some hip work too, which I had never noticed in the past), and I saw quite a bit of AJ and Nick. I can report in all honesty that all of them are even more handsome in person and that oh yeah, Nick's been working out.
So glad I finally got the chance to see them, and so glad I got to see them when it was all five of them again.
The Set List:
1. The Call
2. Don't Want You Back
3. Incomplete
4. Permanent Stain
5. All I Have to Give
6. As Long As You Love Me
7. Show 'Em What You're Made Of
8. Show Me the Meaning Of Being Lonely
9. Breathe
10. I'll Never Break Your Heart
11. We've Got It Goin' On
12. 10,000 Promises
13. Madeleine
14. Quit Playing Games With My Heart
15. The One
16. Love Somebody
17. More Than That
18. In A World Like This
19. I Want It That Way
First Encore:
20. Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
Second Encore:
21. Larger Than Life