Saddledome, Calgary - September 2, 2008

Heavy were my thoughts as I drove up to the Saddledome for last night's Backstreet Boys concert.

Was Dad right? Could I have actually been Hitler in a previous life?

It would certainly explain how one ends up in a day job where attendance of a Backstreet Boys concert is mandatory.

As 8:45 rolled around, 15 minutes after their scheduled start time, and the black backdrop hiding the stage dropped, at least one could take solace in the fact that the value of a band lies not in one person s opinion.

Rather, it is truly found in how their music connects with people and makes them feel something.

With album sales around 100 million and 13 Top-40 hits, not to mention $533 million in concert sales between 1997 and 2005, it's obvious they connected with people.

Judging by the screams of the respectably sized crowd (primarily teenage girls) as the group hit the stage, and the arm waving and dancing that continued from there on through most of the night, they are still connecting.

A boxing ring rolled forward onto the stage as a hammed-up fight announcement issued from the speakers, introducing the band: Nick Carter. Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J.. McLean.

Notably absent was original member Kevin Richardson who left the band in 2006.

Clad in boxing robes, the band bounced around the ring and kicked into Larger Than Life, a hit off their 1999 Millennium album.

As the girls screamed, and screamed and screamed they mock-sparred and then shed their outfits as the song wound down. Within seconds they appeared in leather jackets and black T-shirts (in a stunning display of irony, Dorough s was a Black Sabbath T-shirt) and launched into Everyone off their Black and Blue record.

From there, the hits continued with Any Other Way, Unmistakable and I Want it That Way coming in short order.

The Backstreet Boys do work for their money. They sweated gallons in minutes, never ceasing flurry after flurry of dance moves while singing non stop.

If you go through enough mental gymnastics to view it in the right context, it s impressive.

In the grand scheme of your musical diet however, this show and the music it was based on amounts to processed cheese and white bread.

At least it was a step up from opening act Girlicious.

Girlicious is a fabrication of Robin Antin, who is also behind the creation and success of the Pussy Cat Dolls.

Formed from the final four contestants of the TV show, Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious, they're a steamy, sexed-up quartet of easy-on-the-eyes girls who are banking that Like Me, the first single off their new self-titled album, released just last month, will let their careers survive for another 15 minutes of fame following this tour.

Alas, the opening song of their set, Stoopid Sh**, with lyrics as deep as anything you would find printed on the outside of a chocolate bar wrapper, pretty much summed things up.

They thrust their pelvis out repeatedly to pre-recorded hand claps.

They shrieked out "Come on!" and "Get up!", hip-hop-type call-outs as they gyrated their hips and waved their arms in unison.

A dazzling display of musicianship.

Digging for some merit, there were few impressive vocal runs up to the higher register and the tarted-up foursome did hit all the cues that their reality show (which they name dropped several times) made seem so important.

But compared to the Backstreet Boys who at least back themselves with some living breathing musicians and an actual drum kit, their set basically amounted to 30 minutes of high-priced karaoke.

SOURCE : Incomplete Men

PS: Traduction sur demande !

Merci.