MTV has a new show called "When I was 17." This is Colorado Music Buzz's "When I was 14"
When I was 17 I was graduated from high school and all about Hip Hop....but when I was 14 I was in LOVE with The Backstreet Boys. We're talking posters in my room, all the magazine cut outs I could fit in my middle school locker and obnoxious tears at my very first concert-BSB at the Pepsi Center.
I was especially crazy about A.J. (the bad boy). Not only was he the best singer, he had tattoos and cool style. I loved their love songs, though I knew nothing about love and was still a little but afraid of boys. I hated N'Sync and I new every word to every song- melodies and ad libs included.
10 years later, I was reunited with my 14-year-old love.
I did my best to go in without expectation. Would they be old and slow? Would their voices sound untrained? Did years of drugs, having kids and living in the post-MTV generation of music kill their spirits and rhythm? Worst of all, would A.J. look like a creepy old man to me now?
Short one member (the oldest dude who seldom had a solo or a screaming girl in his wake is no longer a part of the crew) they got down just like they used to. The stage was smaller. the effects were lessened and the girls weren't quite as loud, but the outfits still matched, the dance moves still looked kinda dumb and the words haven't changed.I had a new appreciation for the love songs as an adult. Who doesn't want to be told their man will love them no matter what and he sympathizes with your broken heart?
Despite the flack that they have and probably still receive for being part of Lou Pearlman's boy band machine in the 90s, these guys really can sing. The harmonies were on point and there were no background singers or lip-synching moments. The two hour set combined some of their new material and a lot of the old favorites. They changed outfits a handful of times- still maintaining that hardly visible individual flair in the form of a belt here or a hat there.
And, A.J. did look a little less bad ass and a little more bald, but he still leads the group in power vocals and swag.
Yes, I said it, swag.
The backstreet boys are back!
Now Ya Know!
(p.s. I am STILL Hip-Hop)
