Saturday, March 4, 2000

"Into The Millennium" Tour
Play by Play
by *Alex*

I have been lucky enough to see this show four times now and each time I am busy taking pictures or trying to get the boys' attention. There are so many little tiny things and the whole show is so good that I can never remember all "the little things." So when we realized we had seats really, really close to the top of the highest level, I decided to write down all "the little things." Enjoy!

(Though the concert review is from Saturday's show, any pictures are from Friday night since we had really awesome seats! You're welcome to take the pictures for your personal collection, but you are NOT allowed to display them on any public website. Thanks!)

Space Outfits

"Larger Than Life" - I love these new outfits!! I like that each guy is a little different. AJ wore glasses both shows and not that eye scope thing he had on in Atlanta. (By the way, AJ has changed his hair since last night - it's less strawberry blonde, more regular blonde (thank goodness!). Kevin has also gotten a trim since last night. I assume that this has something to do with the photo shoot they had earlier today, but that's just a guess.)

"Get Down" - I really like this song and AJ was slinging those pelvic thrusts all around the stage. What's really cool is that I looked up from my notes right as the song ended just in time to see those cool green shooting lights come up from the stage and go over the crowd. EVERY show I try to remember which song it is. Well, now I know. (P.S. BSB has great pyrotechnics!! Go boys!)

"The One" - AJ turned to the crowd and just gave a big ol' butt wiggle. Really funny. His rear end was shakin' like he had ants in his pants. Nick walked out into the crowd. Why didn't he do that when I was up there???

The Welcome speeches - Nick was really talkative (perhaps he really *did* suck Andrea's brain out!!!). First of all he mentioned the comic book and said that it was "his dream come true. One of them, at least." He didn't mention his haircut again, but said, "Y'all are the BOMB!!" and finally, "I really think that the Backstreet Boys have the best fans in the world." (Nicky, we agree with you! LOL) Howie, as always, thanked us for "keeping the Backstreet pride alive." Brian also said that "Backstreet Boys' fans are the best in the world." (Awww. Say it again!)

Kev did his intro and was about to go into the next song when AJ or Howie or someone reminded him that they had something special to do. He said that two members of the Backstreet family had birthdays today and they wanted to bring them up on stage. First he introduced Joy and drawled, "She makes sure we have clean drawers to wear." Okay, that's a visual I can't get out of my mind. Next he called out to Dawn, and said, "She's the one who makes sure we get fed." AJ leaned into his microphone and yelled, "She makes sure I get my McDonald's every day!!" LMAO. (Hey AJ - you really gotta start thinking about BK or you're gonna have a lawsuit on your hands. Lucky for us! WE are attorneys!!) They sang Happy Birthday to those lucky women and it was beautiful. Loved it!

"As Long As You Love Me" - I hadn't recognized it before, but they were all wearing long coats and it was just beautiful. Have they always?? Like I said, I'm always too dumbstruck to notice. I'm lovin' the long coats!

Costume changes to black leather

"Don't Wanna Lose You Now" - Oh my gosh. Okay, I've loved the leather pants every time. I've noticed that the boys seem to be excited to wear them, but this is almost getting embarrassing. Particularly for my bud Bone. Andrea and I dropped our binoculars in our laps and stared at each other, slack jawed. I don't know what was goin' on in those pants, but I'm still speechless. It wasn't just a costume... it was an event.

"Quit Playin' Games" - AJ and Nick were facing my side and were doing this little dance off thing on top of the pyramid. Last night I had some great butt shots of them, but couldn't see exactly what they were doing. Ahhh. Very nice. Nick would do a little bit of flailing around (as usual) and AJ would look over at him, shake his head, and try to do it better. Eventually they were just rocking around. Very, very cute. This was while Brian was singing his verse, so Howie and Kevin came over for a sec and tried to "play" too. It looked like AJ and Nick were surprised to see them doing it too. As they got further into the song, each guy walked out to a point on the stage. AJ's bodyguard Marcus was standing right beneath him, and at one point AJ reached down and touched his shoulder. Awwww. Looks like they're close. How sweet. But then AJ picked his nose and it kinda ruined the moment.

"Don't Want You Back" - I'm all over this ladder thing. God bless the woman (because you know is has to be a woman who dreamed that up!) who encouraged boys in leather to dance on poles. Millions of women thank you. A few things I noted: Kevin (who I haven't seen on the ladder since October, so I can't take my eyes off him) was playing peekaboo through the rungs of the ladder. (Brian did the same thing last night.) My friends on the other side said that Nicky kinda fell off his ladder, but I didn't see it. AJ hollered halfway through the song to "break it down!" and I thought it was cute. Zeroed in the binoculars on Dennis and he was keeping time on Guido's head. Awww. Lastly, Kevin, was, *clears throat*… um…. for lack of a better term, "pumping" his ladder at the end of the song. I dropped my pen. Literally.

"Perfect Fan" - I love this part of the show. I love the way Kevin interacts with his girls. Wish I was one. *sigh* Nick has gotten better about interacting with his. Personally I think he used to act like girls had cooties and kinda ignored them. But he was doing this little dance around his girl and singing to her as he walked her around the stage. Very cute. AJ was doing a ballet dance - very funny - right before Kevin sings, "God has been so good…" Get your cameras ready - very sweet. Kevin was miming playing the violin. Silly boys.

Kevin's piano solo - beautiful. Love the sparkly vest he's put on. What's Nick doing walking out on stage?

"Back To Your Heart" - Kev's on piano, Nick has put his booty in the drummer's seat. AJ, Howie and Brian are sitting on my side but we can just barely see Nick. (Had a good view of the drumset last night though.) When it comes time for Nick to sing, Brian points toward Nick at the drums, AJ leans back and tries to point to him. Very cute.

Okay, I talked about people throwing things up on stage in my Friday concert review, but I gotta tell you about Saturday. AJ was holding this bear for most of the song with a "33" on his shirt. (My guess is that it was intended for Nick, who wears a "33" shirt at the end of the show.) But AJ was really cute with it. There was another animal on the stage as well. Well, someone threw another, which spurred another and another. It was a freakin' ZOO on the stage!! There were probably 20 animals near the guys at the end of the song!! But the funniest thing is that during Nick's solo someone threw their DKNY black flip flops up there and Howie couldn't stop laughing. You could just see the realization cross his face that somebody was going home barefoot. At the last chorus (and you could hear Brian's "these arms of mine" part SO clearly!!) AJ put down his bear. Howie kinda half-stood and grabbed one of the shoes. He handed it to AJ. AJ held it up and sang the last line of the song to the shoe. I was LMAO. (If we have opportunity to talk to Howie later, I'm going to ask if he still has my shoes, just to see what he does.)

White outfits

"Everybody" - The big news here?? AJ did NOT scream the second verse!!! He sang it. Wow!

"We've Got It Goin' On" - Nothing really stuck out. Not to say it wasn't great. I was kinda glazing over(!)

"That's The Way I Like It" - When the guys sing '…you've got me hypnotized' they all walk with their arms out like zombies. I could tell on the monitors that Nick is pseudo-spanking that dancer again. Dang! When did he grow up??? Later he fell over onto the stage. I can't help but wonder if he's doing it on purpose or if he just wants a rest break. Hahaha! Brian(!) turned his butt to the crowd and did Kevin's famous little jiggy dance. I guess it runs in the family. LOL! AJ was wearing his black and white cowboy hat and at the end of the song THREW IT into the crowd. What I wouldn't have given to walk out of the arena wearing that… (Though personally I think that unless you're AJ, that hat is wearing YOU.)

Pinstripe suits

"Spanish Eyes" - They were sitting on stools on top of the pyramid. Kevin was resting his head on his microphone. Awww. During Nick's solo, Brian and Howie were totally carrying on a conversation, first with each other, then with someone on their crew offstage. What on earth were they talking about?? I have to wonder.

"I'll Never Break Your Heart" - The lines that start "… I deserve, honey, just once" is a cappella (no music) and it's beautiful. I could listen to that all night long. On the very last line - "I'll give you all of me - honey that's no lie" - Kevin was so clear and easy to hear. That low rumbly voice just melts me inside. :)

"No One Else Comes Close" - Nick totally gets into this song. He actually "has to stand" because he's just wailing. You can kinda see that AJ thinks, "Damn. I woulda stood but Nicky did it first. Crap. He's butting in on my turf." LOL!

"All I Have To Give" - Howie walks by and I can tell for the first time (I swear - he's always on the opposite side from me!) how long his hair has grown. Wow. Wonder what it looks like down?? (I saw him a couple hours later. This is a not-so-great pic of him playing pool.)

"Show Me The Meaning" - First off, the lights come on and Howie pumps up the crowd, gets us hollering, then tells us they're going to sing a song to their late producer Denniz. Just feels weird. I can tell that the cool black patent leather shoes they're wearing are slippery on the bottom. Brian and Kevin (on my side) look really hesitant to slide down the ramps. When Kevin tries to walk back up later, you can see he's really working hard not to slide back down. The dance interlude in the middle is incredible. Last night I could see AJ and Howie dancing with their women, but tonight I can't take my eyes off Kevin. Wow. Incredible dancer. What I wouldn't pay to have a ballroom dance lesson from him. Wow. *picking tongue up off floor*

Urban/Abercrombie clothes

"It's Gotta Be You" - "...I can't control it anymore..." Very nice pelvic thrust here. Yum. Kevin sat down and slid down the ramp like it was a slide - very cute.

Okay - the intros: tons of stuff, so I'll just get it all down, out of order. First of all, Nick starts doing an impression of Aretha Franklin ("What you want, baby I got it - huh! What you need, baby I got it!") Go Nick!!! AJ has taken over Mindi's percussion set and is playing the triangle ("ting ting"). Nick comes over and starts in on the bongos. Brian was standing on top of the pyramid and started doing his "bird dance" from LTL. Nick came over to Dennis' keyboards and just starting banging on the keys ("phantom of the opera, anyone?"). AJ and Dennis were playing basketball - Dennis made a big circle "hoop" with his arms and AJ was throwing the ball into this "hoop." (kept missing, but Dennis just wiggled around so the ball would go in.)

Howie was playing cymbals on the main drumset. AJ went over to one side and started doing classic "bodybuilder" poses. LMAO. When AJ introduces Mindi every night, he makes something up about her. Tonight he told us that she was the "Dallas Women's Cattle Roping Champ of 1999." Haha. Nick introduced MCD as the latest artist on "WannaBeARapperRecords." One of Howie's pant legs was just gone - vamoosed! At first it looked like he just rolled one leg up, but the whole thing was just gone. He had on these strange tight things underneath since he had no pants from mid thigh down. Nick looked over at him and was mocking him. He just kinda shrugged like, "I don't know dude. There's just no leg any more!" (There's so much going on at this time!! You really have to pay attention!!)

Two really cool things happened at the end that I want to highlight, since you don't see it as much: Someone handed up flowers to Brian as they were doing the bow. It was about four or five roses. He walked over and very gently set them down near Mindi so they wouldn't get crushed. Then someone passed up a really big card and rose to Nick. He had set it down so he could finish the concert, but as they were leaving the stage he stopped and you could tell he remembered it. He trotted back to get it, then walked off with it. Very sweet. There's no way the guys can keep every gift or read every card, but they do make an effort and they do appreciate their fans. *wipes tear*

Dallas Maverick Jerseys

"I Want It That Way" - They reappeared wearing Maverick jerseys and the crowd went wild. AJ was singing "…yes I know it's too late" and Brian did that echo on "yes I know!" that he did on MTV live in May. Cool. At one point, Nick walked over to Brian and put his arm around him. They tipped their heads together to sing. That was cool - you can see that they really are good friends. Nick picked up a Sylvester beanie and was singing to it really closely in the camera. Ha ha ha.

They got to the point where they're wrapping up the show. AJ cut his eyes over and said, (in a very sexy voice) "so… did you have fun?" Heck yeah! AJ and Nick were standing opposite us and Nick leaned in to whisper something in AJ's ear. They looked at each other, then each ripped off their shirts. AJ's yellow tank came off too, so he was shirtless (hehehe) but Nick only took off his Maverick jersey (no big surprise!). They threw them into the crowd, the climbed to the top of the pyramid to meet up with the other guys. Kevin said, "put some clothes on, Bone!" and I think Brian said, "Bone always takes his clothes off!" AJ's black microphone pack was strapped around his chest and he looked down at it, then up at us and said, "my black belt! Ha ha!" Brian had some towel or something and as they were singing the end of the song, tied it around AJ's neck to cover him up a bit. HAHAHA. LMAO.

SO CUTE!! SO FUNNY! SO TALENTED!!!!! Though our seats were crappy, in a way it was the best concert I've seen since I sat back to enjoy it. I hope you had the same experience. If not, I'm glad you had the opportunity to enjoy my concert review!