I went to a Backstreet Boys concert on September 3, 1998. My Dad got the tickets off the internet. Me, my Mom, Dad, and my two younger sisters, went. The photo above is a picture my Dad took from our seat in the balcony.

The day of the concert, we piled into the car and drove off to Providence, Rhode Island, where the concert was to be held. It was about an hour and a half's drive away. After about one hour on the road, my Mom spotted a conversion van with a sign in the window saying "Backstreet Boys" with little hearts around it. Pasted on all the windows were pin-ups of the boys. We all got a kick out of that. But wait, there's more! About 10 minutes before we got there, we got stuck in a small traffic jam. It's hard to believe, but I saw TONS of cars with teenage girls in them. You bet they were going to the concert too! They all had calendars, pin-ups, and posters hanging in their car windows. I had a book about them, with a picture on the front, so I held it up to the window, and all these girls were waving and smiling at me.

When we arrived, we got our tickets, and immediately when we entered the building, there was all this loud screaming (I expected that). I mean really L-O-U-D. I thought it was the Backstreet Boys, but it was only the opening acts! Aaron Carter was one of the acts. He sang four songs. One of my favorites was "Shake It," and  when the song was over, he told us we were the best little Shake-It's around. The other songs he sang were "Crush On You,"   "Ain't That Cute?" and "Crazy Little Party Girl." After Aaron was done, we had a one-hour wait! Suddenly, an announcer came out, and said, "Do you want to see the Backstreet Boys?" Do you want to know how loud the screaming was? No, you don't. Then he said, "Who wants to see Kevin? Who wants to see A.J? How about Howie D, What about my buddy B-Rok? (now the screaming gets loud!) and Nick Carter! (now the screaming gets really loud!) Then the man leaves and the screaming gets almost deafening. There were these huge TV screens above the stage, so I could see close-ups of them singing, and a little podium in the center of the stage. Suddenly, all these sparks shot up from each step on the podium, and the boys flew up with the sparks! They started off with a song from their European album, "That's the Way I Like It," then they sang "Hey Mr. DJ," and then they did acapella version of "Just to Be Close to You." After that, each boy came out and did a solo. Howie came out first and did "My Heart Stays With You." He was holding at least 24 roses and was throwing them out into the audience. After his, Kevin came for "Nobody But You," then A.J with "Lay Down Beside Me," Brian came out next and really got the crowd going. His song is really special because he wrote it and plays it. He asked the audience, "Can I play a song that I wrote?" and the crowd goes wild! He played "That's What She Said" on guitar. Then last, Nick came out with "Heaven in Your Eyes." Then they sang "Quit Playin' Games" Except THEY played it! The band purposely messed up the song twice, and then they said, "If you don't like the way we play it, then why don't you come up here, and you play the song." Kevin played keyboards, Brian on bongos, Nick on drums, and Howie and A.J played guitars. They sounded awesome! After that, they sang "Darlin'," "All I Have to Give," "Anywhere For You," "I'll Never Break Your Heart," "As Long as You Love Me," with their cool chair dance like it was in the music video, "We've Got it Goin' On," "Get Down," and "Everybody." They touched girl's hands a lot. Once when Brian was singing, a girl threw a teddy bear up on stage for him, and he picked it up, and actually started singing with it!

Well, this concert was the best night of my entire life, and very cool and if you get a chance to see them, I know you'll totally love it!

Things You Should Bring to a BSB Concert:

	Binoculars (if you have a seat far from the front)
	Posters (to show off in front of the fans or the Boys themselves)
	Headphones (if you have really sensitive ears; the screaming gets pretty loud!)