Title: Aaron Carter at Verizon
Source: HippoPress.com
Source: http://www.hippopress.com/music/020926_carter.html
Author: Jennifer Thrasher
Date: September 26, 2002
Topic: Summer 2002 Concert Review
Yes, I am humbled. The Aaron Carter show at the Verizon Wireless arena on Sunday, Sept. 22 was actually pretty good. I wasn't sure what to expect, and neither did my 9-year-old niece Kaylee who stood in awe for the first 20 minutes. It was her first concert and she was surprised to see that there was more to the show than just Aaron Carter. Triple Image, Jump 5 and No Secrets opened for Carter-these kids ranged from 13-18 years old and they were having a blast with super soakers, pillows, silly spray and more. As fun as they were, and much to my surprise, my 4-year-old nephew Josh kept asking, "When is Aaron Carter coming?" When Carter came out the place erupted with screaming girls. Carter and his eight backup dancers came out and began dancing around the stage, which was set up as some sort of industrial city. There were several levels that gave Carter and his dancers plenty of room to run around and dance the night away. Several songs into the show, Carter sang a patriotic tune and pranced around the stage with an American flag. His dancers resembled a high school color guard team as they waved red, white and blue flags. After that Carter launched into "The Eye of the Tiger," and at one point actually played a guitar with his teeth. This kid is more talented that I thought. There was another eruption of screams from the fans as Carter began to sing "Candy." This was the only song I actually knew and I sang along with Kaylee who was absolutely amazed by this young heartthrob.
There was special additions like a car coming out on stage, the crew spraying Carter with silly string and one special member coming out dressed (in drag) as a love crazed fan when Carter sang a touching love song. As the show came to an end, Carter was suspended in the air and swinging around as the crowd on the floor was doused with a glittery rain that covered everything and everyone. The crowd got a few extra minutes with Carter because he got stuck there, hanging in the air. The crew and the rest of the bands came out with pies, whipped cream, super soakers and ran around the stage. It was easy to get Aaron due to the fact that he was still stuck in the air. The show was fun and it seemed as if the crew had as much fun as the performers.
One final note that I found interesting is that there was a Chucky doll that kept popping up throughout the entire show. I was a little perplexed as to why the doll was such a big part of the show until it dawned on me that they were giving props to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their new coach Jon Gruden, who oddly enough resembles, and is often referred to, as Chucky. Since Carter is from Tampa Bay, it all seemed to make sense and I am proud to say GO BUCKS!!
