Backstreet Boys" Are all grown up now

Before there was Bieber, there was Backstreet.

The boy bands hits such as "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" and "I Want It That Way" is bringing its "This Is Us" tour.

Backstreet Boys' return will show to Pittsburgh for the first time in five years and the first time without eldest member Kevin Richardson, who left the group in 2006 to start a family. He is married and has a 3 year of old son.

Mr.Dorough said, "This record here, we reached back into what made us who we are -- that's good pop melodies, great harmonies -- and made it recent and relevant".

The album's attempt to be recent and relevant is reflected in the Euro dance beats of "Straight Through My Heart," the record's first single, and collaborations with producers behind some of Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson's hits.

Mr.Dorough said, "We actually wanted to push the envelope with this record". "We wanted to reach out to some writers that people wouldn't have expected us to reach out to."

"We made a conscious effort to go back to being ourselves," Mr. Littrell said in a release. "It's important for the fans to remember what was, but it's also important for them to know where we're headed."

The tour is a similar blend of old and new. "All I Have to Give" from the debut album or "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," which could arguably be called the group's anthem. Newer material, brief talks from the boys and film clips starring the band will be sprinkled throughout the show.

Backstreet's back, good as ever

Backstreet Boys still got it goin' on.
The band of boy all grown up but still baby faced sweated and crooned their way straight into fans' hearts at a packed Rogers Arena. The quartet (fifth member Kevin Richardson left the group in 2006 to start a family), proved that they've still got the sex appeal that revved up every female teenager's hormones back in 1996 when they released their self titled debut.
It's quite amazing, actually: 14 years later, and all of those preteen and teenaged girls that pinned up Tiger Beat posters of Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough (can't forget Richardson) on their walls have stayed true to the Boys.
The 20 something year old female fans were there in full support. Dressed to the nines, in sparkly shirts and stilettos, they brought their lungs and their tears.
OK, well the tears weren't of the waterfall variety that we look from Justin Bieber fans today. But they were there, waving from the corners of black lined and mascara coated eyes.
The group dazzled the audience for nearly two hours, playing all the hits to the audience's delight, as well as new material from their 2009 release This Is Us.
They opened with (Everybody) Backstreet's Back from 1997's Backstreet's Back album after jumping through a giant screen onto the stage. The boys pulled out some slick moves to welcome the arena. The screams were deafening.
The audience sang along to every single word. The lyrics to We've Got It Goin' On re-emerged from their collective unconscious. It was like riding a bike.
"Who's been to a Backstreet Boys show before?" Littrell asked the audience. He was answered by a million decibels of noise.
"Is it OK if we go back in time so you can help us sing some songs?" he continued, jumping into Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) and then As Long As You Love Me.
Even though they're one man down and a little rougher around the edges, the Backstreet Boys' voices haven't changed one bit.
They have grown with their audience, though. The concert matched the maturity of the audience, giving fans a trip down memory lane without being too cheesy.
The production values and visual candy have been stripped down since the Backstreet Boys concerts of yore. They threw out the excessive pyrotechnics and intricate choreography for toned down dance numbers and a more mature, music centric approach.
They performed each song harmony for harmony, lyric for lyric. It was like listening to their album. Nothing different. But that's what the fans wanted.
Although the members will likely never be able to shake their '90s boy band persona a la Justin Timberlake and rise to the same heights of success as they did ten years ago, the Backstreet Boys showed that they've got a love for their music and their fans, and they'll keep on singing Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely as long as the music world will let them.
I remember my dad once chuckling at my teenaged obsession over the Backstreet Boys in 1997. "They'll never last that long," he told me.
Um, Dad? I think they have.