The closest they got to NKOTB’s famous quick-change backstage camera was a bit where Kevin Richardson and AJ McLean stood behind some screens while swapping outfits and flashing, at best, a bare shoulder or two. The guys wore a surprising amount of clothing, swapping out a series of jackets more appropriate for January than July. Unlike fellow boy band vets New Kids on the Block - with whom they joined forces for a wildly entertaining 2011 tour - Backstreet Boys prefer dewy-eyed sincerity to bump-and-grind camp. (Unfortunately, though, they chose to skip hiring a live band and sang to a bass-heavy backing track throughout.) They’re touring in support of “DNA,” their first major-label album in a decade, and performing on a massive stage full of screens, lasers and plenty of moving parts.
If anything, their vocals have gotten stronger with age and the finest moments - like the gorgeous new ballad “Breathe,” performed with minimal backing - showcased that fact. Nothing about Saturday’s show suggested they were getting too old for this, though. It was Backstreet’s first local headlining show in five years, although the fivesome has kept busy in the interim, playing the KDWB Jingle Ball in 2016, opening for Florida Georgia Line at Target Field the next summer and kicking off an ongoing Las Vegas residency that same year.
Last week, group member Howie Dorough released a new solo album, the family friendly “Which One Am I?” And they made numerous references to their 26 years in the business Saturday night. Indeed, the grown-up boy band invited country pop newcomer Baylee Littrell - the son of BSB’s Brian Littrell - to open for them and later went on an extended group riff about their other kids.
The Backstreet Boys fully embraced their status as Backstreet Dads on Saturday night in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 screaming fans at St.
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