Backstreet Boys are back, all right
McLean's struggles addressed, then forgotten amid entertaining return
By GEMMA TARLACH of the Journal Sentinel staff
Source: www.jsonline.com
Rested, refreshed and yes, rehabbed, the Backstreet Boys resumed their
"Black & Blue" tour Friday night at the Bradley Center after more
than a month of canceled dates and questions about member A.J. McLean's problems
with alcohol and depression.
The beleaguered boy band - which also has seen album and ticket sales dip in the
last year as rivals 'N Sync have assumed dominance in the genre - gave more than
14,000 fans Friday night a two-hour razzle-dazzle show that proved the quintet
is still "Larger Than Life." The group acknowledged McLean's recent
tribulations early in the show but quickly moved on to do what it does best:
entertain.
McLean had checked himself into a facility in early July to receive treatment
for alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety, forcing a month of tour dates to be
rescheduled. Earlier this month, when McLean's doctors advised him against
returning to the road, another spate of shows slid off the boy band's schedule,
making Milwaukee the tour's official restart date.
Although fans seemed focused just on experiencing the Boys live for the first
time in Milwaukee since 1999, the group paused a mere two songs into the show to
address the A.J. Issue.
"We took a little break for some things," Brian Littrell said as the
other Boys changed costumes. "Because the Backstreet Boys aren't the
Backstreet Boys without all five of us."
Emerging from the staging area in a white suit, McLean was next to address the
crowd and thanked fans for "support and understanding," adding that he
was "celebrating 51 days sober."
Then the band struck up again and all five Boys, their costume switch from
"Matrix"-style techno-black to tailored white suits completed, got
busy with a non-stop string of their trademark gooey Prince Charming promises.
McLean himself appeared lean and fit, with all his onstage trademark antics
intact, including much gratuitous shirt removal and frequent ad hoc James
Brown-like squawks.
The bulk of the evening's set list came from 2000's "Black &
Blue," a moodier and slower album than both its predecessors and recent
releases from the rest of the boy band pack. The Boys' stage show reflected
their increasing maturity and yearning to be taken more seriously.
Where 'N Sync's "Pop Odyssey" show in June at Miller Park was a
garish, candy-colored affair, the Boys opted for manly suits and much soulful
crooning. Highlights included a mellow retooling of "I Want It That
Way," off 1999's "Millennium," and the encore "Shape of My
Heart."
Although the Bradley Center's capacity is 20,000, promoters considered the show
a sellout due to the large stage's configuration.
Performing abbreviated versions of his songs in front of a four-story high
banner of himself, thong advocate Sisqo was a poor 11th-hour replacement for
Shaggy. Without a flashy video to distract from his middling mumble-raps or
limited and breathy vocal range, only Sisqo's moonwalking skills saved his set
from mind-numbing mediocrity. Even last year's summer anthem, "The Thong
Song," was a dispirited muddle.
Evening opener Krystal was, if nothing else, a bizarre synthesis of pop music
tangents. Alone onstage, outfitted in goth-girl black and heavy on the
faux-street lingo ("Yo, I love y'all!"), the singer/pianist banged
away Tori Amos-style on her instrument - then grabbed the mike with both hands
while the prerecorded piano track continued. Artifice aside, Krystal's more
sophisticated balladry, free of doctored vocals and dance routines ripped off
from Janet Jackson, was at least a change from the wannabe Britney brigade.