Newsday
BY GLENN GAMBOA
STAFF WRITER
No meteors. No spacesuits. No futuristic skateboards to ride in midair.
No, this time around, the show is just the Backstreet Boys -- Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson -- and their music. And that, it turns out, is more than enough to put them back on the right track.
The latest incarnation of the Backstreet Boys is more fun-loving, more laid-back and, in its own way, more musically adventurous than ever; they're ready to accept their roles as pop singers instead of trying to duke it out with the world to remain the "it" guys they once were.
In the Boys' hour-and-40-minute show, they rolled through nearly all their hits and a healthy chunk of their new "Never Gone" (Jive) album with a lighthearted touch that they haven't had since the early days of the "I Want It That Way" craze of 1999.
The biggest surprise of the night was the group's embrace of the mash-up, singing "As Long as You Love Me" while the band played the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There" and then singing the opening of "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" over the opening of Madonna's "Vogue."
Of course, as entertaining as the Motown-influenced delivery of "As Long as You Love Me" and "I'll Never Break Your Heart" were, the current tour is about the band's new album "Never Gone" and the new single "Just Want You to Know."
The success of "Just Want You to Know" -- which sounds more than a little like Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" (another Swedish pop creation from Lukasz Gottwald) slowed down and unrocked -- was apparently so important that two separate pleas for support came from Carter, as well as the Boys' manager Johnny Wright.
The new material, however, does cause a slight problem. Most of the songs on "Never Gone" have a single lead vocal and only a handful of harmonies -- leaving the guys who are not singing a lot of free time during the song. Instead of dancing like they used to, on the new songs, the guys use this downtime to wander the stage waving at fans or playing air guitar, or simply sitting around waiting for Carter to finish singing.
Nevertheless, the Backstreet Boys have been reinvigorated by ditching the test-marketed special effects and being themselves. It's a message they should relay to their opening act the Click Five. The quintet's single "Just the Girl" is undeniably infectious -- a cross between The Cars and The Outfield -- and the rest of the band's forthcoming debut "Greetings From Imrie House" (Lava) is promising. But the cheese-tastic fist-pumping, pick-flinging and lounge-singer pointing detracted from the catchiness of their songs. In their matching black suits and ties, they looked a little too pre-programmed as they simulated rocking out during their short set.