Backstreet Boys, Baylee Littrell

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Photo courtesy of PNC Arena

Backstreet Boys

With more than half of the band’s albums coming after their commercial peak nearly twenty years ago, Backstreet never actually went anywhere. Trouble Is, the boy-band landscape looks drastically different than it did in 2003. Following Justin Timberlake’s post-*NSYNC lead, the members of groups like One Direction and the Jonas Brothers have sought to reinvent themselves as serious solo acts, and while the hyper-obsessive teenage fan demographic still has an appetite for old-school boy bands, the internet has allowed Everybody to shift toward previously inaccessible international groups like Korea’s BTS and THE BOYZ. In a World Like This, Backstreet’s decided to load their recent set lists with callbacks to The Way It Was. Of course, the band is More Than That—2019’s DNA is full of surprisingly solid songs, none moreso than lead single “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Their show at PNC will undoubtedly be a little overblown and silly, but sometimes, I Want It That Way. And until Justin Timberlake agrees to a full *NSYNC reunion tour, No One Else Comes Close. —Cole Villena