Backstreet boys and fans party like it's 1999
By Christopher Caskey
September 01, 2005
Sacramento Bee

The forebears of the late 1990s boy band craze, the Backstreet Boys have returned after a three-year hiatus, and local Backstreet fans showed the dreamy quintet Wednesday night that they haven't gone anywhere. With a new album, "Never Gone," and a national tour under way, the Boys are looking to climb back up the pop charts that they so dominated at the end of the last decade.

Thousands of girls and boys of all ages descended upon the Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Marysville. Many of them wore homemade shirts bearing a scribbled, painted or silk-screened slogan that embodied the attitude of the night -- "Backstreet's Back." Indeed, it was 1999 all over again Wednesday.

The night opened with Seminole County, a rock band from Orlando, Fla. Anyone with a keen eye and a good memory may have recognized lead singer Jj (note: her last name is Thacker, but her stage name is just Jj), who was part of a small Sacramento controversy in 2002. At the time, the 15-year-old rapper, who played high school assemblies and anti-smoking events, was not allowed to perform at a reggae festival on the California State University, Sacramento, campus.

But the once-squeaky-clean Jj has since changed her image, here sporting a tattered skirt and dark eyeliner a la Ashlee Simpson. She and her four-piece band of dreamboat boys, with lip rings and tight shirts offered a lightweight version of modern hard rock acts, had a closer resemblance to bands such as POD and Linkin Park than to the night's headliners. Jj rapped and sang through a short set, offering a slightly harder-edged treat to the boyfriends and dads who were dragged to the concert.

Up next was KC Brown, a young, sans-band pop singer with a bubbly persona. Dancing and singing on stage with her two-hunk entourage, she performed beat-heavy dance songs about having crushes on, and having her heart broken by, boys -- think very early Christina Aguilera. She even encouraged feedback from the crowd.

"How many girls like surfer boys?" she asked, before performing her dub-influenced "Cadillac Hotel." The barrage of excited shrieks made it clear that the Sacramento-area audience does, indeed, like surfer boys.

And finally came the Boys of the hour, missing no beats and making it seem like they had never taken a break. They didn't dance as much as might be expected from a band whose worldwide popularity was built on well-choreographed performances. Perhaps this was due in part to the fact that A.J. McLean injured his leg in a glowstick-related incident at a previous show in Las Vegas, rendering him partially immobile for the entire set.

The teen-pop sensations performed several songs from "Never Gone," including the stormy ballad "Incomplete," which has helped the new album reach platinum status since its release in June. But these Boys didn't forget that they became the biggest band in the world on the backs of their hits, and pleased the buoyant crowd with songs such as "I Want It That Way" and "Larger than Life" -- with a laser light show, fireworks and a full band in the background. They even sang a heartfelt "Happy Birthday" to their security guard.

Even with all the excitement in the air, it was apparent that the strength of the boy-band sensation has waned. Five years ago, tickets to the Backstreet Boys at Sleep Train Amphitheatre would have been worth more than gold. Although the 18,000-plus venue was quite full, the lawn section was not the sea of blankets that it usually becomes during a sold-out concert.

But sold out or not, Wednesday night's concert showed Sacramento that the Backstreet Boys still have enough pull and are still electrifying enough to be a major force in pop music. Yes, Backstreet is back.