Backstreet’s back, bigger than ever

Concert

Backstreet Boys

Perth Arena

4 stars

REVIEW JESSIE PAPAIN

‘I want you to act like you’re 15 years old tonight.” This was the challenge set by Nick Carter shortly after he and the rest of the Backstreet Boys took the stage at Perth Arena for the final night on their In a World Like This Australian tour.

Truer words may never be spoken. Despite being an ageing boy band that recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, the quintet, comprised of Carter, A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, managed to reduce a near sold-out audience of mostly adult females to a bunch of screaming teenage fans with a few pelvic thrusts and hip pops. All of a sudden, it was 1999 again and they were one of the biggest phenomena ever seen in pop music.

Exploding onto the stage in matching blue suits and shiny black shoes to a James Bond-style opener, the guys were quick to spell out some ground rules for the crowd. One: they wanted us to go crazy. Two: what happens at a Backstreet Boys concert, stays at a Backstreet Boys concert.

It was all the encouragement fans needed to give themselves over to the sheer joy of the two-hour set, which was packed to the brim with synchronised dance moves, sweet harmonies and a staggering number of hits that everyone seemed to know all the words to.

Incomplete, As Long As You Love Me and All I Have to Give were early favourites, while gleeful squeals were audible throughout Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely and an acoustic rendition of Quit Playing Games (With My Heart).

Newer material was less well-received, with the exception of 2013’s Show ‘Em (What You’re Made Of), a spine-tingling tune inspired by McLean and Richardson’s kids that reminded us that the singers, just like their fans, have grown up.

Though the die-hards seemed thrilled to have Richardson back — he left the group in 2006 only to return six years later — it was Carter who was the true star of the show. Long before One Direction’s Harry Styles had girls across the globe swooning, it was the floppy-haired blond who was the original 90s teen idol and his cheeky, loveable larrikin nature was on full display throughout the performance.

Carter appeared to be having the time of his life up on stage, pushing the dance moves further than the other band members, swinging his jacket and freestyling like nobody’s business.

A sense of excitement built up to the triple- whammy finale of the Backstreet Boys’ greatest hits I Want it That Way, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) and Larger Than Life, which harked back to the band’s pre-2000 video clips with Thriller-esque moves and robot solos.

Judging by the number of audience members who leapt out of their seats to shamelessly groove along to the beat while belting out “Backstreet’s Back, all right”, I’m not the only one who found the show a deliciously guilty pleasure.