When I was in Geneva seeing NKOTBSB, while I had a lot of fun during the New Kids portion of the show, I noticed it lacked something. It had all the right elements. The fun catchy songs. The slow romantic ballads. But it was still missing the magic I feel at when the Backstreet Boys are on stage. So what is it about BSB that I love so darn much?
Well, there's a tons of reasons. On the surface we can't deny the good looks, but it goes beyond the looks. There are the voices. AJ's deep raspy sound; Howie's sweet melodic tone; Nick's distinct soothing voice; Brian's smooth soulful vocals. And most importantly the combination of all of the above. Together and individually these voices could read me the dictionary and I'd still fall in love. How many musicians truly sound better live and acoustically than they do on the album? I can safely say I prefer the Backstreet Boys a capella. They have the vocal talent. Bottom line.
But it doesn't stop there. The songs they sing, write, and produce are so amazing all in their own way. Songs to inspire and console in hard times; and enliven and electrify you in the good times. There's a song for every mood. When I feel like dancing, I jam to some Poster Girl or Larger than Life. When I feel like being mellow, I pop in Millennium and enjoy some Spanish Eyes. When my heart is aching I have Inconsolable or Shattered. If I'm feeling romantic I can listen to Drowning or I Need You Tonight. They are in essence, the sound track to my life.
You'd think this would be enough to capture my love. But it keeps on going. It's the personalities behind the musicians that is really what had me enamored from the beginning. Let's start with Nick. He was cast in the role as "the cute one" but that only scratches the surface of this amazing man. He's so cheerful and joyous. He's the most passionate performer on stage, which is so contagious. It's impossible not to be moved when you're watching him perform. He puts his heart and soul into everything he does whether its a song he's writing or a short movie he's directing.
Let's move along to AJ. What a down-to-earth, genuine human being. Here's another man who truly puts his heart into everything he does. He's so humble and really appreciates his fans. He's that ideal balance of an edgy bad boy and perfect gentleman. You look into those soft brown eyes and see such depth and warmth. It's captivating.
Brian adds a sense of whimsy to the group and can make you laugh even in the worst of times. I also have so much respect for him and his wholesome background and strong family values. That's hard to come by. And if that's not enough, his voice provides such a source of comfort. When you listen to him sing, it makes you feel like nothing else matters at that moment.
Rounding out the group is Howie. So humble and so giving. They don't call him Sweet D for nothing. He's always trying to do more for the fans and never once has taken his fame for granted. There's no feeling in the world akin to that of receiving one of Howie's infamous winks. He's so talented in so many ways. I also have such respect for him in how he balances BSB, his family, his fans, his solo career, his charity, other bands he manages, etc. The list goes on and on.
So far we have great looking guys, good voices, great songs, and one-of-a-kind personalities. I'm not stopping there though. They put on one hell of a show. They're all great dancers with some killer moves on stage. But one of my favorite things about their live performances are they make such a good effort to interact with their fans. They make eye contact with the fans, wave, wink, bring you up on stage. Whatever it takes to make you feel special. Another thing I love about their live shows are those extra little personal touches. No two shows are a like because they let their personalities shine on stage. The fun banter between them always makes me smile. They don't take themselves too seriously and they have fun with it. Other non-BSB concerts I've been to tend to be so overproduced that it could be anyone on stage. I enjoy Backstreet concerts so much because I get to see them be themselves. Plus they actually sing live at their concerts. Not all artists do that.
And the last thing (at least for the purposes of this post) - I know it's very cheesy and borderline cliche, but the Backstreet Boys have allowed me to meet some fantastic people and make really great friends. At the end of the day, that's what its all about. What fun is loving the Backstreet Boys if I can't gush over them with you all?
These are just a few of the countless reasons why I love them, so feel free to share below why you love the Backstreet Boys.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Cruiser Problems
Not sure if everyone knows what a meme is. I figured it out relatively recently. If you don't know, well its tough to explain. It's not super important but if you care, I can refer you to the Wikipedia article on memes. Anyway- I decided to create a Backstreet cruiser meme called BSB Cruiser Problems which chronicles "problems" that a Backstreet cruiser faces on a day to day basis. Enjoy!
What can I say, it's a tough job being a Backstreet cruiser ;)
What can I say, it's a tough job being a Backstreet cruiser ;)
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Countdown to MixTape Festival
I know MixTape Festival was announced a few weeks ago…but it was announced 3 days before I left for Europe so I’m finally just able to sit down and digest the excitement. So MixTape will be my next Backstreet adventure and I have to wait a small eternity until August before the event gets here.
The ticket buying experience for MixTape was true chaos, as one would expect for any BSB event. I was initially anticipating buying a regular GA floor ticket but in true Backstreet style, about 50 minutes before the tickets went on sale it was announced BSB would be playing a baseball game with New Kids, offered only as part of the VIP package. So like any good irrational BSB fan, I bought a VIP ticket with complete disregard to cost and giving no real consideration to my budget. It boiled down to spending an extra $350 to see Nick in tight baseball pants. I fully expect it will be well worth the cost.
So once I found out I was going, I excitedly told my little bro.
Anyway, I’m super excited for this event. As they have been advertising it, it seems like it will be the only event in North American for 2012 by NKOTBSB (and possibly even BSB!). But because of that, I have a bunch of friends flying in from all over the place. It’s going to be a true cruise reunion and an epic weekend all around.
Anyone else going? Shoot me a message if you are!
The ticket buying experience for MixTape was true chaos, as one would expect for any BSB event. I was initially anticipating buying a regular GA floor ticket but in true Backstreet style, about 50 minutes before the tickets went on sale it was announced BSB would be playing a baseball game with New Kids, offered only as part of the VIP package. So like any good irrational BSB fan, I bought a VIP ticket with complete disregard to cost and giving no real consideration to my budget. It boiled down to spending an extra $350 to see Nick in tight baseball pants. I fully expect it will be well worth the cost.
So once I found out I was going, I excitedly told my little bro.
Me- “I’m going to MixTape fest and ended up buying VIP tickets for over $500!”That comment made me chuckle, mostly because there’s a hint of truth to it.
Bro- “I thought tickets were $150?”
Me- “Yes, but I wanted to see the Backstreet Boys play baseball so I had to buy VIP.”
Bro- “Geez. What’s next? Are you going to spend $1,000 to watch AJ sleep? You’ll be all excited like: ‘Oooh look. He just rolled over!’”
Anyway, I’m super excited for this event. As they have been advertising it, it seems like it will be the only event in North American for 2012 by NKOTBSB (and possibly even BSB!). But because of that, I have a bunch of friends flying in from all over the place. It’s going to be a true cruise reunion and an epic weekend all around.
Anyone else going? Shoot me a message if you are!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Chirp Chirp
Well I finally converted to the dark side and joined twitter. A lot of you have been asking me if I had a twitter account and I was reluctant to join for so long because I knew I'd get hooked. So I really tried to hold off for as long as I could, but I felt like I was missing all the excitement. So please follow @ItsMeLauraD to continue to hear all my crazy BSB ramblings in between blog posts. And I'll try to follow you back as well! Just bear with me as I get the hang of this thing.
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| @ItsMeLauraD |
Friday, May 11, 2012
NKOTBSB in Geneva
Well I'm finally recovered from my trip to Europe. It was absolutely incredible.
Italy
Italy was just beautiful. Here is the super cliff notes version:
So now for the fun stuff. Concert day. It was really neat to be in a foreign country seeing BSB. I was officially one of THOSE fans and I loved it.
Apparently this show broke the record for the lowest attendance. I think they only sold 2,000 tickets and the venue held 8,000. Once I heard that I had hoped that would translate into a smaller VIP group, but sadly that wasn't the case. Though I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
So the day started off with sound check party, which was an entirely different experience than other sound checks I've been to. Apparently their truck broke down en route to Geneva which meant they didn't have the stage set up yet. So the sound check was held on the steps outside the main auditorium where they performed. This meant some good news and some bad news. The bad news was they didn't sing. The good news was they opened it up to a rather long q&a session.
I didn't waste anytime and my hand immediately shot up when the boys started asking for questions. So Nick called on me. On the inside I was totally doing the happy dance. On the outside I tried to remain as calm and composed as I could. I essentially asked them what was on their rider. They took a good few minutes to answer and had me laughing along the way. Here's the video of them answering my question.
What was so special about that was that Brian looked at me dead in the eyes for the duration of his response. It was so nice and it made it rather difficult to actually concentrate on his answer. Glad I had enough sense to record it (even though I hate hearing the sound of my own voice) because I wouldn't have been able to recall what he said otherwise.
So the sound check continued on and I actually learned quite a bit. I learned the real reason they don't have a show in France and Spain. Learned a little bit more about the break they took after Black & Blue. I also learned a lot from some of the local fans on how concerts differ in Europe vs the states. Fun fact- Apparently in Europe they have laws to keep the volume of concerts below a certain level. It was actually nice leaving a concert for once without my ears ringing.
Anyway, after the Q&A it was time for the meet and greet. I feel like an old pro by now, but yet I still seem to get those butterflies in my tummy every time. I've also realized I'm quite lucky when it comes to not having a barricade in my pic, because this is my fifth group meet & greet and not one time did I have a barricade. Let's hope that trend continues indefinitely.
So I really didn't have too much to say to them this time around. I still find it super intimidating to meet all 4 guys at once so I try not to overdo it. Thus I quietly took my 4 handshakes and said "its so nice to see you" or something along those lines to each guy. When I got to AJ he said "I'll see you real soon," officially confirming he'd be the tour guide. Queue my already growing insane excitement. Then Justin snapped our picture and I'm super happy with how it turned out.
So after the group meet and greet it was really the moment I had been waiting for. A backstage tour with AJ. I was so giddy. I also felt it to be a little extra special this time because it would be the first tour he gave after his announcement that he was going to be a dad. He gave us some info that Rochelle is due the end of November and that the baby was a surprise. He also shared how Rochelle broke the news to him.
The tour was probably a good 25 minutes or so. I thought his tour was far better than Nick's. He did a great job of answering a variety of questions. Made a lot of good jokes. He had me laughing the whole time, and I didn't even care that he probably makes those same jokes for every tour.
I also had a chance to ask AJ another question backstage. I had a list of about 15 questions I wanted to ask him, but alas I couldn't ask them all. I thought back to my post on general admission shows and just how stressful they are to us fans. So I wanted to ask him what his view on a GA show versus assigned seating and also what exactly they do differently in terms of stage setup. Basically he says that it stresses out his body guard and he knows that it has its limitations, but a "show's a show."
Then of course he offered to do "non-prom poses" for our pictures. Well since I'm not creative enough to come up with a good pose, I thought it would be a fun idea to ask him to pick the pose for us. Risky move for sure, but I was willing to chance it. I gently asked AJ, "I was hoping you could pick a fun pose for us to do." Without hesitation he replied "butt to butt." Did AJ really just instruct me to touch my behind against his. Yes, yes he did. I thought the pic came out just okay. It's nothing I would've ever picked, and I think I look so goofy. I clearly don't know what the heck was going on. But its still a picture of me with AJ and I really like the idea that he came up with the pose, so that makes it extra special for me.
On a related note, I'm going to need to scrounge up another $1000 to see how Howie and Brian's backstage tours to see how they compare. Well...probably $1500 for Kev as well. That's it. I'm officially starting the 'Laura BSB Platinum VIP Fund'
The Concert
The show was general admission, but since I did the platinum VIP I was able to score a front row spot. Woohoo! Now I can cross that off the Backstreet bucket list.
Pretty standard show, with slight changes from the North American leg. The only major thing our of the ordinary for me was that I managed to get a pic with Danny during Tonight.
Note to self for next time- Must. Remember. To. Zoom. Out. At least it was only Danny that I goofed for. Is that awful to say? Now I feel bad...kind of. You know what I mean.
Even though Danny was so sweet to offer a picture with me, this show was still a Nick/AJ show for me. I tend to focus on 1 or 2 boys for each concert, just depending on who might be spending the most time near me or grabs my attention for one reason or another. Every show is someone different. I could've sworn that Brian wasn't even on stage that night because I feel like I barely saw him. Its funny how that happens. But I noticed for this show my camera gravitated primarily towards AJ and Nick. Well I'm starting to ramble and I don't really have too much else to say about the concert. I'm sure you all know how it goes down by now. So instead I'll just post a few of my fave pics I took. Enjoy!
So ends another one of my Backstreet adventures. The next one will take place a little closer to home- MixTape Fest in Hershey. Can't wait!
Italy
Italy was just beautiful. Here is the super cliff notes version:
- Saw the Colosseum
- Did touristy poses in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
- Watched Blue Bloods in Italian. Couldn't understand a word but Donnie is just as hot in Italian so it didn't make much of a difference.
- Stumbled on the movie premiere of The Avengers where I saw Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).
Thor is my new favorite superhero - Spent the evening in a hotel in Venice with limited wifi shrieking when we found out that AJ is going to be a dad, Kevin is coming back to the group, and the boys are recording a new album in July. It was tough to be away from home for all this excitement.
- Left the country with a BGC (Blood Gelato Content) hovering around 25%
So now for the fun stuff. Concert day. It was really neat to be in a foreign country seeing BSB. I was officially one of THOSE fans and I loved it.
Apparently this show broke the record for the lowest attendance. I think they only sold 2,000 tickets and the venue held 8,000. Once I heard that I had hoped that would translate into a smaller VIP group, but sadly that wasn't the case. Though I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
So the day started off with sound check party, which was an entirely different experience than other sound checks I've been to. Apparently their truck broke down en route to Geneva which meant they didn't have the stage set up yet. So the sound check was held on the steps outside the main auditorium where they performed. This meant some good news and some bad news. The bad news was they didn't sing. The good news was they opened it up to a rather long q&a session.
I didn't waste anytime and my hand immediately shot up when the boys started asking for questions. So Nick called on me. On the inside I was totally doing the happy dance. On the outside I tried to remain as calm and composed as I could. I essentially asked them what was on their rider. They took a good few minutes to answer and had me laughing along the way. Here's the video of them answering my question.
The boys answering my question!
So the sound check continued on and I actually learned quite a bit. I learned the real reason they don't have a show in France and Spain. Learned a little bit more about the break they took after Black & Blue. I also learned a lot from some of the local fans on how concerts differ in Europe vs the states. Fun fact- Apparently in Europe they have laws to keep the volume of concerts below a certain level. It was actually nice leaving a concert for once without my ears ringing.
Anyway, after the Q&A it was time for the meet and greet. I feel like an old pro by now, but yet I still seem to get those butterflies in my tummy every time. I've also realized I'm quite lucky when it comes to not having a barricade in my pic, because this is my fifth group meet & greet and not one time did I have a barricade. Let's hope that trend continues indefinitely.
So I really didn't have too much to say to them this time around. I still find it super intimidating to meet all 4 guys at once so I try not to overdo it. Thus I quietly took my 4 handshakes and said "its so nice to see you" or something along those lines to each guy. When I got to AJ he said "I'll see you real soon," officially confirming he'd be the tour guide. Queue my already growing insane excitement. Then Justin snapped our picture and I'm super happy with how it turned out.
 |
| Me and BSB in Geneva |
Platinum VIP with AJ
So after the group meet and greet it was really the moment I had been waiting for. A backstage tour with AJ. I was so giddy. I also felt it to be a little extra special this time because it would be the first tour he gave after his announcement that he was going to be a dad. He gave us some info that Rochelle is due the end of November and that the baby was a surprise. He also shared how Rochelle broke the news to him.
The tour was probably a good 25 minutes or so. I thought his tour was far better than Nick's. He did a great job of answering a variety of questions. Made a lot of good jokes. He had me laughing the whole time, and I didn't even care that he probably makes those same jokes for every tour.
I also had a chance to ask AJ another question backstage. I had a list of about 15 questions I wanted to ask him, but alas I couldn't ask them all. I thought back to my post on general admission shows and just how stressful they are to us fans. So I wanted to ask him what his view on a GA show versus assigned seating and also what exactly they do differently in terms of stage setup. Basically he says that it stresses out his body guard and he knows that it has its limitations, but a "show's a show."
Then of course he offered to do "non-prom poses" for our pictures. Well since I'm not creative enough to come up with a good pose, I thought it would be a fun idea to ask him to pick the pose for us. Risky move for sure, but I was willing to chance it. I gently asked AJ, "I was hoping you could pick a fun pose for us to do." Without hesitation he replied "butt to butt." Did AJ really just instruct me to touch my behind against his. Yes, yes he did. I thought the pic came out just okay. It's nothing I would've ever picked, and I think I look so goofy. I clearly don't know what the heck was going on. But its still a picture of me with AJ and I really like the idea that he came up with the pose, so that makes it extra special for me.
 |
| "Butt to Butt" |
The Concert
The show was general admission, but since I did the platinum VIP I was able to score a front row spot. Woohoo! Now I can cross that off the Backstreet bucket list.
 |
| Front row baby! |
 |
| And the award for the most awkward picture with a member of New Kids goes to...me |
Even though Danny was so sweet to offer a picture with me, this show was still a Nick/AJ show for me. I tend to focus on 1 or 2 boys for each concert, just depending on who might be spending the most time near me or grabs my attention for one reason or another. Every show is someone different. I could've sworn that Brian wasn't even on stage that night because I feel like I barely saw him. Its funny how that happens. But I noticed for this show my camera gravitated primarily towards AJ and Nick. Well I'm starting to ramble and I don't really have too much else to say about the concert. I'm sure you all know how it goes down by now. So instead I'll just post a few of my fave pics I took. Enjoy!
So ends another one of my Backstreet adventures. The next one will take place a little closer to home- MixTape Fest in Hershey. Can't wait!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Backstreet Queries #1
Well I just got home from 2 weeks in Italy and Switzerland and of course NKOTBSB. Such an amazing trip! I can't wait to tell you all about it. But it's going to take me a few days to catch up on things, post pics/vids, and write my review. So in the meantime, I'm kicking off a new series for you all- Backstreet Queries. I had a stroke of inspiration on my trip because my friends and I had a blast asking each other fun random Backstreet related questions. So I've decided I want to make this a monthly feature on my blog. At least that's my goal. So you can expect a new set of fun questions to kick off every month where we can get to know each other a little better.
So here goes nothing...
What is one song that you think should have been a single but wasn't?
Your turn to answer! Feel free to post your answers below or link over to your blog.
So here goes nothing...
What is one song that you think should have been a single but wasn't?
I'll side with AJ on this one, I would've loved to see Don't Want You Back as a single. Not that I don't want The One as a single, but I'd like both.What's one song that was a single that shouldn't have been?
Inconsolable. It was too similar to Incomplete and they had better songs on that album.If the boys show up at your door and say they will sing one song to you a capella, what song do you choose?
I adore AJ's solo in I'll never break your heart and would absolutely die if he sang his first chorus to me. I feel similarly with Nick's opening line in All I Have to Give. So most likely one of those two songs. I would also love More than That or What makes you Different. Too many good songs to pick from!What's your favorite Backstreet TV special?
Mine is the 2 hour Millennium release special that was on TRL. Games with fans, games amongst themselves, q&a, singing. It had it all!Is there anything you would change about your favorite BSB?
Would I change anything about Nick? Not too much. Right now I think he looks homeless and think he needs to shave and cut his hair! But that's minor. I suppose the only thing I would change about him is I wish he interacted a little better with the fans. Howie is always stopping to take pics and autographs, etc and I wish Nick was just as good as Howie.How did you initially become a BSB fan?
I got the first Backstreet Boy album as a gift and started listening. I really enjoyed it, but I think what really hooked me in was the millennium album and all the specials and hoopla that surrounded it. I got to see the boys behind the music and that's why I fell in love.How would you spend your dream day with BSB?
My dream day with BSB would probably be spent in Disney World. What better way to have fun with them than at the most magical place on earth? I would love sitting next to the boys on a roller coaster or seeing Brian do his Donald Duck voice with Donald.
My other dream day would consist of being on a cruise with them, but not a Backstreet cruise. Just a good ole fashioned regular cruise where I could get dressed up and have a nice dinner, relax on the beach (read as shirtless backstreet boys), go to a show, play games, go in the hot tub (more shirtless backstreet boys), go dancing in the evening. Its got it all!
Your turn to answer! Feel free to post your answers below or link over to your blog.
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