When the Backstreet
Boys released their album, Black
& Blue, last November, they probably didn't think that a group that
broke up three decades ago would steal their thunder.
Or did they?
It wasn't just any band, after all, but The Beatles, whose collection of
No. 1 hits was released one week before Black & Blue, and now appears
destined to become the best-selling disc of all time.
"Well, I don't think we feel worthy of comparison to The
Beatles," said band member Kevin Richardson during a press
conference in New York the day of Black & Blue's release.
"I think that a lot of the hysteria that surrounds us, there's some
similarities there, because they had quite a following and quite a young
following."
No doubt both young and old members of the Boys' dedicated followers will
be screaming their lungs out when the band's five members -- Richardson, Brian
Littrell, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter and A.J. McLean -- take the stage at
SkyDome on Wednesday night for a show that sold out in a mere 75 minutes.
The Black & Blue world tour kicked off with a three-night stand in Ft.
Lauderdale on Jan. 22 with a 90-minute show that included a seven-piece band, 10
dancers, five costume changes -- one of which the audience gets to see -- a
smaller stage closer to the fans, and 21 songs.
The show also has "the largest indoor concert set ever
constructed," according to the Boys' label, Zomba Records.
The Associated Press described the tour launch as "a show mixing
harmony-driven pop and dance with playful asides that worked fans into a
frenzy."
The Boys opened the evening with Everyone, and returned for one encore,
Shape Of My Heart, both songs from Black & Blue.
While Black & Blue -- along with the rest of the big pre-Christmas
releases -- was left in the dust by The Beatles, it is by no means stiffing.
To date, it has sold 700,000 copies in Canada and 15 million worldwide.
(Comparatively, 20 million copies of the Beatles' 1 album have been shipped
worldwide.)
"I mean obviously we're all grown up, we're all getting older,"
said McLean of the band's more mature sound on Black & Blue. "But
musically, we've definitely grown on this album. We took a trip down to the
Bahamas with just us five in May or June. It was a writing trip. We didn't know
how it was going to go, if we were going to try to kill each other or we were
going to work together. And we came out with nine songs that we wrote, two of
which were on the Black & Blue album -- Time and Answer To Our Lives.
"Just the fact that we wrote songs on this album shows a lot of
growth for us personally. There's a lot more inspiration and a lot more
participation from our side on this album. That shows growth musically,
production-wise, and the same thing with our tours and everything. We're trying
to just grow slowly with our fans and as a family and as a group. We're just
taking it step by step and I'm sure the next album will be more of a
growth."
And maybe some mini Backstreet boys -- or girls -- running around.
Both Richardson and Littrell have married since the last time the
Backstreet Boys were in town.
In fact, Littrell's wedding will be part of InStyle: Celebrity Weddings
airing on NBC tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Fans will get a chance to ask all of the group's members questions --
personal and otherwise -- when they pull into MuchMusic on Tuesday for an
hour-long chat starting at 8 p.m.
Following their Toronto appearances, the group leaves for a Thursday night
show in Pittsburgh. The first leg of the North American tour wraps up on March
18, but they are expected to return for a second leg of stadium dates from July
through September.
Their world tour also takes the Backstreet Boys to Mexico and South
America in April; Europe in May and June; and Japan, Australia and New Zealand
in October and November.
"We've never taken our tour to Japan or to Australia," said
Richardson. "And that's why with this Black & Blue world tour, it will
first and foremost be an official world tour. We will go everywhere for the
first time, and that's important to us."
And they'll apparently be doing it as a tight unit.
"The Black & Blue record is probably the most focused we've ever
been as a group, the tightest we've ever been as a group," said Littrell,
"and what's to come, we let that be."
Added Carter: "So to all those people out there, in the press
community, that don't want pop music to continue on -- sorry."