98* Takes The Stage 
After getting warmed up with the opening acts, it was time for 98* to make their enterance, and boy did they make an enterance! Futuristic music swelled as four circular chambers appear onstage. A voice-over said, "In the year 2013 the world experienced a new ice age. Anguish the heartache ran rampant across the land and could be challenged by no one except for four souls. These four would be called 98*. Nick, Jeff, Justin, Drew. They are our only hope." The guys were dressed in puffy white hooded jackets and white gas masks, as they made robotic movements. (We originally thought they were trying to look like Storm Troopers from Star Wars, but Drew later explained to us that they were trying to represent the cold of the ice age.) The cylindrical doors opened and we could feel the bass booming up through our feet as the guys whipped off the jackets to reveal silver breast plates and red pants. (They looked a little like the futuristic Ninja Turtles!) Then the dancing, singing, and superior harmonizing began! 

Tune It Up! 
They stared off with the 98* anthem, "Heat It Up" which really got the crowd in high gear. Fans were showing their support by screming out the guys' namess and holding up banners with special message for 98*. We were having a great time, but we really got into it when they started doing a whole host of cover toons. They did The Offspring's "Pretty Fly For A White Guy," Prince's "1999" and mixed it up with a rap that borrowed beats from the Beastie Boys' "Paul Revere" and Eminem's "My Name Is" which Nick wrote himself! We asked Nick about it later and he said, "Clever, huh? What i was trying to do was get all the titles of our songs in their. We were thinking of a couple of thing we wanted to do and we thought well, that's a great beat. Not everybody was convinced that that would turn out well. I think that thw whole thing with the show is, we try to just keep it as diverse as we can, everything from style of music to throwing cover songs in there like out of the blue." We thought it was fantastic! 

Clothes Make The Man! 
Time for a costume change! The guys came out in black suits with bugendy dress shirts. Much to the delight of the audience, they crooned everyone's favorite ballads, "Invisible Man" and "I Do (Cherish You)." You could tell the guys were working hard because their shirts were drenched in sweat! (Swoon!) They did a tribute to Stevie Wonder by singing "Superstition" and the duet they did with him for the Mulan soundtrack, "True To Your Heart" with mike stands. Nick told us, "It's funny because i saying to the guys, 'I think that going out of "Do You Wanna Dance" sounds like it goes into "Superstition'" and the band just started playing it on their own. We were like, 'Oh, we gotta do it now.' It's like fate, they did it." 

Change Your Tune! 
Time for another costume change! They guys came out in camouflage pants and black ammunition vests. Justin did a kicken' harmonica solo! If you thought he was just an amazing singer, he can really wail on that thing! What really caught the attention of the audience was when Nick announced that he had broken up with his girlfriend. That was great news to lots of 98* fans! The last costume change had the guys dressed up in blue basketball gear where they did a tribute to The Temptations and other Motown acts from back in the day. If there was even any doubt that these guys had butter voices, this totally proved that they deserve every last ounce of their success. The concert ended with a real bang - the upbeat ballad, "Because Of You" which thrilled their fans to the 98th degree! 

Party On! 
We were invited to a private after-concert party at a great club called Portion on New York's upper west side. The place was dark and comfy, complete with couches and neon blue vertical fountains in the windows. It was the perfect atmosphere to chill out in after all the excitement of the show. We congratulated Nick, Drew, Justin and Jeff on a job well done. Justin told us, "It's important to have fun during the show. If you're out there faking it people aren't gunna have a good time. We're out there havin' a blast and w hope other people will too." Well, one thing's for sure - we had a great time and the audience sure did too! Dont miss 98* when they come to a city near you!