Backstreet Boys: Party like it’s 1999

BSB MEMBERS (from left) Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter . PHOTO COURTESY OF OVATION PRODUCTIONS

A handful of songs into the Backstreet Boys’ recent Manila concert, the group’s tall, goateed bass vocalist, Kevin Richardson, posed a question to the crowd. “Do you all want to take a trip down memory lane with us and party like it’s 1999?”

The final years of the 1990s, of course, were the glory days of teen pop, which then inundated the airwaves with platitudes about love and friendship set to catchy, burnished melodies. Boy bands were warring kings; Britney Spears, the undisputed queen. And on Saturday mornings, you tune in to MTV to find out if their new singles were within striking distance of the No. 1 spot.

On that night, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough and Richardson—by just standing side by side onstage—brought memories of that music era rushing back to the thousands of screaming ’90s kids that filled SM Mall of Asia Arena to the rafters, to be part of the band’s “In a World Like This” world tour.

After solid performances from the front act, young singer Tippy Dos

Santos, Backstreet Boys emerged onstage to the strains of “Everybody,” marching in a deliberate cadence and shuffling to position, before launching into the R&B and hip-hop-inflected dance tune “The Call.”

And before long, people were partying like it was, indeed, 1999. Now, if we could only part our hair straight down the middle and put on a pair of baggy pants.

The boys are now men, and have ditched their oversized football jerseys for form-fitting, dark blue suits. Their hairlines are a little higher; their bodies a little bit softer. But the members—now in their late 30s and early 40s—were still goofy and silly as ever.

Carter looked like he had just downed a few bottles of energy drink, spinning around, gyrating and thrusting his hips in a manner that’s cringe-worthy and riotous all at once. And Littrell, midway through a performance, couldn’t stop himself from busting out the jig. And much to everyone’s delight, the boys were all praise for Manny Pacquiao, and called for a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The five performers aren’t spring chickens anymore, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t pull off those sweeping, smooth and oh-so-cheesy dance choreography found in the music videos of songs like “All I Have to Give.” The harmonizing and the doo-wop vibe in the pop-R&B hit were still on point, but it was extra-comforting to see that the group still has that signature “hat-smoothing” move down pat.

New material

TIPPY Dos Santos

The boys, who likewise revealed that they’ll be returning to the recording studio soon to work on their ninth album, didn’t neglect such new material as “Show ’Em (What You’re Made Of),” “Madeleine” and “In a World Like This.” However, it’s still the older favorites that unfailingly elicited the most fervent of sing-along sessions.

Almost everyone in the venue looked to be in their 20s and 30s, as if they screamed for the Backstreet Boys as hard as teenagers do now for One Direction. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve outgrown the type of music they do, or have moved onto listening to those “cooler” indie bands. When the group performs “As Long As You Love Me,” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” and “Shape of My Heart,” you belt out the verses, choruses, bridge, second voices and heck, even hum the instrumental breaks.

The band, which was formed in Orlando, Florida, back in 1993, has always prided itself on being more than just cutesy—they regard Boyz II Men as inspiration, and could, actually, blend their voices really well.

Thus, they always get out of their way to prove just that during concerts. This time, they sang a cappella versions of “Drowning” and “10,000 Promises,” which had the members playing instruments. Littrell, the most imposing singer of the five and the one who sings lead most of the time, could still hit impressive high notes from time to time. McLean’s husky and dramatic tone, meanwhile, was still very much intact.

The Backstreet Boys ended the show, mounted by Ovation Productions, by dishing out two of the band’s most thumping pop-dance bangers, “Everybody” and “Larger than Life.” Earlier, Carter said that he wanted the crowd to act like they were 15 years old. And looking at how the revelers danced and sang their hearts out, it did seem like no one grew up a day older than that.

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