I went into this concert with quite high expectations just because I knew it was going to be a surprise set list and I knew we'd hear some songs we don't normally get to hear. Even with my high expectations, the boys totally blew this one away. I'd even venture to say it is one of my favorite Backstreet concerts of all time.
- Intro (Kanye West Power)
We all walked into this concert having no idea what to expect. The stage very simply just had their band set up and some Christmas lights sprinkled around the stage. No fancy props, backdrops or anything. It very practically set up, not much more than you'd see at an acoustic show. They started promptly on time and with no opening act. I really could get used to no opening act by the way. Just bring out our boys!
- Incomplete (Remix)
The boys jumped right into the concert with no fancy intro or anything. No boxing rings, flying on surf boards, or jumping through screens. Which is fine, I dont need fancy intros. I just need the boys on the stage as soon as possible. Then I heard the musical intro of Incomplete but a version I had never heard before. Let me tell you, I LOVED this remix. I was too caught up in the excitement of this new version to enjoy AJs solos, which I typically love. I also thought this was quite an unexpected start to the concert, but definitely no complaints.
- Larger than Life (Remix)
Before Larger than Life started up Nick asked if we had fun the night before, at the beach, and if we were ready for prom night. Lots of cheers and clapping. Then the boys did a remixed version of Larger Than Life. Very high energy. Towards the end of the song they blended a very tiny bit of 'Party Rock' with the lyric 'Everyday I'm shuffling'. Quite random, but for these singles we've all heard them sing so many times, its nice to change it up a bit.
- If You Want it to be Good Girl/Get Down Medley
In between songs, Howie thanks us all for coming and informed us that the next song they'd be singing was the most requested song.
Personally I wasn't as gung ho as everyone else seemed to be about the boys singing If You Want it to be Good Girl. I enjoyed it, but mostly because its something I've never heard them sing live before. It's definitely not one of their best songs and I personally would've preferred to hear them sing something else. The boys didn't sing the full rendition of the song, they did a medley with Get Down, during which they came out into the audience. Always popular with the fans.
Howie: "All I can say, you girls want some bad bad boys"
- Inconsolable
Nothing out of the ordinary with this rendition of inconsolable so I'll just let you all enjoy the video.
- AJ's Solo- London
After Inconsolable, Howie asks AJ when we were going to hear some of his solo stuff. Then AJ says that each of the boys will be doing some solo songs and spending some one on one time with the fans. At this point I start freaking out that I may actually get to hear AJ sing London. I kept chanting to myself "Please sing London. Please sing London. Please sing London." And then I hear those beautiful first few beats to the song and I jumped up and down with delight. Once again, I'll let the video speak for itself because I'm clearly not capable of explaining it well enough to do it justice.
After the song, the rest of the boys came back out and Nick says that he "fucking loves that song" and that he's "really jealous because its such a damn good song." He also explained when the boys first heard the song, they begged AJ for it and how they "were going to highjack it from him." This just proves that I'm not the only one who adores this song.
- Helpless When she Smiles
AJ segued into this song by suggesting each Backstreet Boy bring up a girl to serenade on stage. As they went into the audience, they sang 'Everything I Do' by Bryan Adams. Very unexpected surprise. So they brought up four lucky fans and sang to them. I won't even pretend that I wasn't jealous. Who in their right mind doesn't want to be serenaded by them?
- Siberia
Next on the set list was Siberia. The boys say down while they sang this song. Brian of course did his rendition singing "If you want to talk, you can email me." I'm almost starting to think these are the actual lyrics.
After Siberia the boys pointed out that Nick left the tag on his coat. I love Nick's face when he was imitating Josh. Just watch...
AJ- "But now that he took the tag off, its now Nick's personal wardrobe"
- Brian's Solo- Mary Did You Know
Brian gave us a little intro to the song and told us it wasn't your average Christmas song, which was right on the money. This was probably the most touching performance by Brian I've ever seen. You could hear a pin drop throughout the entire song. In case you missed it, he actually got choked up in the middle of the song, wiped away a single tear, and took a few seconds to recompose himself before continuing to sing.
- Bigger
Before the song starts up, Nick gave a shout out to all the Japanese fans in the audience because that's where they filmed the music video for that song. Then AJ revealed that Nick almost got in trouble with the Japanese mafia and AJ himself was chased down by the cops. No idea what this was about.
The boys then started talking a bit about the next cruise (woohoo!) Nick was joking they should do a Backstreet Fear Factor. Brian indicated that they wanted to do the next cruise in the summer time in order to a bit more "economical friendly" for us. Then one of my favorite Brian moments of the cruise occurred:
Brian imitating a fan, "Thank you. God bless you. Because my pockets are empty. I have my room key and some chap stick"
Then the boys deliver yet another wonderful rendition of Bigger. AJ did switch up his one lyric and sang "You are bigger....than Kevin" They always keep it interesting for us.
- As Long as You Love Me
You can tell the boys didn't do the song as planned because during the instrumental part of the song, they all look around at each other confused, start laughing, and Nick lets out "I'm sorry." I assume they were going to try to do the choreographed dance for us. Truthfully I prefer these sort of unplugged moments because they make me laugh. Towards the end of the song they start heading into the audience, which was a perfect segue into the next song.
- All I Have to Give
The boys went up top to sing this song, which I thought was very sweet of them. Once they made their way back to the stage, they mess up yet again and realize they were singing the wrong version of the song. They all start laughing and said they were supposed to do the hat routine but Nick sweetly asks us for a "get out of jail free card" because they were up so late the night before partying with us. Only because you asked nicely, Nick, we'll give you the get out of jail free card. They attempt to atone for their mistake and half of BSB does the hat dance:
Brian and AJ do the hat dance
- I Want it That Way
This song gets voted for the best intro of the concert. After several attempts of AJ trying to explain the song and the band cutting them off, its apparent that they are about to sing I Want it That Way. Brian then asks "Can we do the little boy band thing where we shake our butts?" Nick continues to be very confused and asks which version they're doing because they've "got like three versions." More confusion unravels before the jump into the song:
Nick- "I forgot where I was."Howie- "You're on a boat"
Even once the song has started, Nick still looks over to AJ and gestures that he doesn't know which choreography they are doing. Geez, since I actually took the time to write out this review, I realized Nick really was the culprit for messing up a lot of these songs. He's lucky he's so good looking so he can get away with it. Miraculously, by the time the chorus rolled around, they were able to figure it out and actually nailed the routine.
During Howie's part of the song, he changed up the lyrics a bit. He even added the word "Kevin" in there as well. I was anticipating that if Kevin were to come surprise us for the concert, it would be for this song but sadly he didn't.
- Howie's Solo- Lie to Me
Hearing Howie sing this song really makes me want him to do a solo tour. Flawless performance. We really need to get this man some more solo parts.
Howie singing Lie to Me
- Don't Want You Back
This also gets my vote for best intro to a song. You all should know by know I can never make up my mind. Okay, Nick starts off by setting us up for the song where they were "building a stage, " which obviously would've been The One. AJ cuts him off and asks if they can do the song that should've been the single, thus Don't Want You Back. Though I kind of missed the ladder-like poles they climbed on during the Into the Millennium tour. Those things were fantastic.
AJ- "No, no, no. Can we do the song that should've been the single? And the only reason why it wasn't was because you called TRL. Your fault."
Nick- "Do you understand the concept of TRL? Its voting. THEY voted for it.
AJ- "No I know it. Carson called me personally."
- If I Knew Then
The most noteworthy part of this song was Nick declaring he forgot the words. I think this is Nick goof #5, though I lost track a while ago. Brian immediately came to his rescue and started singing his part. Oh Nick, I don't know what we're going to do with him.
- Nick's Solo- Burning Up
Another comical intro from AJ and Nick.
AJ- "Ladies, ladies, I dont know about you ladies, but I am Burning Up. I'm on fire... Nice segue."
Nick- "Just start the freakin song."
AJ- "You know what, I love you too."
You can really feel the love. The song was great though. Tons of energy in the room. And Nick's signature Burning Up dance is really growing on me.
That strut move I like goes into full effect at 1.18
- Shape of My Heart
Nothing super noteworthy with this rendition. Just another beautiful version of this song.
- Everybody
This is one of their singles that I will never get sick of hearing them sing live. In typical fashion, the boys ham this one up. Nick even gets them to do some of their classic choreography.
After the boys finished this song, they take their bow and leave the stage. After some chanting they finally come back out for the last song...
- Drowning
This was the moment that made being in Group B all the worthwhile. Out comes all 5 Backstreet Boys. The shrieking decibel is absurdly high in the room. The highlight was Kevin singing singing his solo part. Though it was hard to actually hear him due to the screaming. Kevin really looked like he was having a good time up there and the rest of the boys welcomed him right back in. Perfect way to the end the perfect concert.
Drowning with Kevin
PS- Another huge thanks to Anne Marie for letting me borrow a ton of her videos.
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