BSB Review:
Submitted by Kelly
Raleigh, North Carolina
I went to the Backstreet Boys concert in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 6, 1998. I went with my friend, Sandy and we sat on the floor, Row 6!!!!! Okay, here it is…
The concert lasted almost 2 hours! The Backstreet Boys called the Raleigh concert their "surprise concert." They were constantly joking around...it was hilarious. During the concert, Brian took the drum stick and pretended to used it as a baseball bat against A.J.'s head!!! During one of their songs, they were all fighting about who was gonna be in the front! Then, Nick got the guitar, and was pretending to play it, like heavy metal and was pretending to used his teeth to play it. Then, he couldn't get it off, so he had to pull it all the way over his body and he almost tripped getting it around his feet. It was really cute!
Before all of this though, Aaron Carter, Nick's little brother, opened up for them. He sang 4 songs! First, he sang "Crush On You", then "Crazy Little Party Girl", then "Ain't That Cute", and last, "Shake It." For Crazy Little Party Girl, he divided the crowd so that half sang "Crazy Little" and the other half, my half, sang "Party Girl." His half was "Crazy Little" though. Anyway, for “Ain't That Cute”, a girl was chosen to go up on stage with him and let him sing to her! She was sitting in a chair and he put his arm around her and held her hand. It was really sweet!
The concert started at 7:30, but BSB didn't come out until 8:30 and it ended at 10:30. They came out on these lifts, with fire and everything! Four of them were on the lifts, but A.J. was standing in the middle of the stage! They were wearing black and red wind suits. They started singing "That's The Way I Like It." I'm really sorry that I can't remember all the songs or the order in which they sang them, but they sang so many! “That's The Way I Like It” was first, though. Some of the songs they sang were "We've Got It Goin' On", "Get Down", and "Quit Playin' Games."
For “Quit Playin' Games”, the band pretended to not know how to play, so BSB played the instruments. Nick played the drums, A.J. and Howie played the bass guitar, Kevin played the keyboard, and Brian played the conga drums. After they played and sang it, they danced and sang it! I think it was during this song that Nick stood up on the platform where the drums were, turned his back to the crowd, got his water bottle and poured it all over his head!!!
Let's see...they all sang solos! They all changed into red silk-like outfits. Howie came out with his shirt open and white roses in his hand. He sang a song called “My Heart Stays With You”. Anyway, he was throwing out roses to the audience. I didn't get one, but confetti stuff and streamers shot down and I got some of that! There were little red hearts that said in white, "Love, Howie D." They're really sweet. I have some orange, purple and white streamers that fell down.
Next was Kevin's solo called “Nobody But You”. His was pretty good! He was pumping up the crowd and telling us to say, "Backstreet's Back" and all of that stuff. It was pretty cool. He was really hyped up because he kept going from one side of the stage to the other.
A.J. was after Kevin. He came out with his shirt open and boy did he look fine!!! His hair was normal...it was kinda short, straight, and jet black! He wore a long white/creme colored coat over top of his outfit. Then he took it off. He was wearing a gold necklace with a cross on it. His song was "Lay Down Beside Me." It was really pretty. Once, he got down and humped the stage, if you know what I mean! Halfway through the song, Aaron's dancers, 95 South, came out and danced behind A.J.
After A.J., Brian came out. He was wearing a white tank top and I'm not sure what kind of pants...I would assume the red silk kind, like the rest of them. You could see his cross tattoo on his left shoulder. I didn't even know he had one until that night! He sat down in a chair beside some other guy playing a guitar and Brian played the guitar and sang "That's What She Said." It's the prettiest song! While he was singing, the crowd started swaying their arms in the air. I think he liked that because when they were singing another song, he started swaying his arms, too!
Last, Nick came out! He was wearing one of those red silk like outfits and a black t-shirt. He was standing on one of the lifts that they came out on. He had a spotlight on him while he sang "Heaven In Your Eyes” which I think has been updated to “I Need You Tonight”. It's a really beautiful song. During the song, Nick held one of the notes for what seemed like forever. Seriously, though, I couldn't even scream as long as he held that note! After he finished, the music stopped, everyone screamed and he smiled : ), ahhhhh, then he ran to the microphone stand and leaned it over and finished the song. It was really good! When he finished, he stood there for a minute and talked to us about how he was tired of all that slow stuff. So, he led us into "Let's Have A Party."
I'm not sure when, but sometime during the concert they sang a song a capella that they said got them their first record deal. The name of the song was “If I Ever Fall In Love” and it was really, really pretty! Anything they sing is pretty, but especially since it was a capella!
They sang "As Long As You Love Me", which was really good! When they were doing the chair routine during this song, I got to go right up to the stage and take pictures. I was actually leaning against the gate right at the stage!!!
For "All I Have To Give" they were all standing there in black hats with a red ribbon around them and their red outfits, with their heads tilted toward the floor in front of their microphones. The song and dance routine for that song was awesome!!!
I’m not sure if this was before or after “All I Have To Give” but they all came out and sat on five stools and sang “I’ll Never Break Your Heart”. We tried to hold up our banner that we had made for them, but it was too big, so I held up my small sign I made for Nick instead. I think that Nick saw me during “I’ll Never Break Your Heart”, because there was like an opening where I could see directly to the stage, to Nick, with nobody in my way and I just think he saw me, that's all. Then again, maybe he didn’t…. Oh yeah, this girl that was sitting on the 3rd row was holding up a sign during "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and Nick and Howie saw it and were smiling and talking to her about it. That same girl also got a rose from Howie and one of Aaron's dancer's goggles.
They bowed and all that stuff, then left the stage. Then, they started showing "Everbody (Backstreet’s Back)" on the screen. Everyone was saying "Oh, oh!" You know like they do in the video? Then, it ended and 5 coffins came out. There was someone dressed like the grand reaper and other people dressed in black with flashing red eyes. Then the coffins turned around and Nick, A.J., Howie, Kevin, and Brian came out and started singing. They were wearing those white and red loose, ruffled shirts. The first time Nick sang "Am I sexual" he pulled up his shirt a little and showed off his tummy. The second time, he came closer to our side of the stage and put his hand in his pants!!!
Okay, this is soooo sweet...during one of the songs, Brian just stopped singing and dancing to sign a pillow for a fan!!! Wasn't that sweet?!? Also, about B-rok, he waved to Sandy’s mom. Brian waved to her!!! I'm not lying or making it up...she was jumping up and down and yelling for him and waving and he looked straight at her and smiled and waved! We were about to die! During some of the songs, the boys would come over to our side and sit down right at the bottom of the stage...close enough to touch. I couldn't because the security guards wouldn't let me, but I was close enough to take good pictures. A.J. sat down, real close, Howie came close, but didn't sit down, but took a rose from a fan, and Kevin actually came down into the walkway, in front of the stage. He walked along and shook hands with the fans. It was really sweet. During one song, Brian reached out and took a small bouquet of flowers from a fan and thanked her over the microphone! I gave a present for Nick and Aaron to the security guard and he took it up on stage for them to get!!! At the end of the concert, each of the boys personally thanked the fans and then Nick went over to the camera and kissed it!!! : ) Then Howie came over to the camera and was going to kiss it, but then he wiped it off with his shirt and then changed his mind.
Ummm...oh yeah, before BSB came out, and after Aaron had sung, Aaron was just sitting over to the side of the stage around the equipment and I saw him, but I didn't say anything and then a few minutes later, everyone started screaming!!! It was kinda funny, I thought. Also, before they came out, everyone said that they saw Nick...I'm not sure though. One of them did stick their hand out of the curtain, though! I really thought I saw Howie before the concert, but you never know because there are sooo many people walking around.
Anyway, after they sang "Everybody" they took a bow and left the stage. Then fire, flames, and fireworks went off and that was the end of the concert! It was fabulous! Going to that concert was the most fun I've ever had in my entire life!!!
Kelly
Backstreet X-Change
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E-Mail: xastris125@hotmail.com