BIRMINGHAM POST ARTICLE

15th June 1999

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN~~ By Lucy Morgan

Stick five clean cut American lads together with a few catchy melodies and you have the makings of a successful boy band.

The key to longevity, however, is performing live and after last night's performance the Backstreet Boys have a few years left in them after a polished performance at the NEC.

The mainly all girl teenage audience certainly got value for money as the boys from Orlando athletically performed their way through a string of hits including their number one I Want It That Way and My Love Is All I Have To Give.

While the band won't win many prizes for their original songwriting, at least they proved they can sing and dance at the same time live on stage. If you like your concerts very loud and very visual then the Backstreet Boys could be your thing. Calling it a concert would be doing it an injustice. It was more like a West End show.

The only blip on an otherwise professional performance was when one of the band members, Nick Carter, nearly came a cropper as he attempted to surf his way to the centre stage along with his colleagues suspended by moving wires.

If the songs all sounded a bit similar there were plenty of distractions to keep the screaming fans amused.

Fireworks, flames and erotic dancing were all smoothly choreographed together in an hour and forty minute spectacular which even their biggest critics will be hard pushed not to be impressed by.

The battle of the boy bands, it seems, has a long way to run yet.