There’s nothing better than reliving a carefree youth through music. I mean, maybe there are some things that beat that feeling but often, as adults with responsibilities, we’d like to go back to a time when we had none, and what better to do so than teleportation through your favorite tunes?
To me, artists like Backstreet Boys are reminiscent of simpler times. And I’m grateful to companies like Big Concert that allow my childhood dreams of seeing these artists live, come true. Backstreet Boys shaped my preteen and teenage years as my cousins were obsessed with them. I grew up listening to Radio Sonder Grense and on the odd occasion they would throw some boy bands in the mix of “boere musiek”. I saw my cousins once a year and they introduced me to “As long as you love me.” This was the holiday before I had to go to boarding school and I was hellbent on singing it in the talent show. What I forgot was that I can’t sing to save my life nor do I know all the words to the song. This was at a time when we couldn’t just Google the lyrics. You had to record the song, play and stop and write the lyrics down; yes, I am that old.
Fortunately, I didn’t get a chance to embarrass myself or scar everyone’s hearing but the song stuck. As did a lot of their other music and I’m super stoked to even have the nerve to plan to see them live. It seems that most international artists at the peak of their careers forget places like South Africa but remember us when the rest of the world are over them. No complaints from my side as I know tickets would perhaps not be affordable if they come here at their peak but still, I’m allowed to feel a bit snubbed, right? It’s a common occurrence and a lot of people have actually spoken up about it in recent years.
To be quite honest with you, this post is not bringing good news. If you were planning on singing along to I want it that way, Shape of my heart and Larger than life, to name a few, you would have to do it from the comfort of your house. As seen on Big Concert’s website, tickets for all four shows are currently sold out. Yes, even the two extra added dates are sold out.
I personally feel that they underestimated their fan base in South Africa and should’ve, instead of opting for Grandwest Casino in Cape Town, booked out Greenpoint stadium. I understand why FNB stadium wasn’t booked as I still haven’t recovered from the Global Citizen incident so that’s fair. The memes accompanying this tour cracked me up, for real. If you haven’t seen it yet, just take a scroll through social media and if you’re offended, you’re in the right place. It makes us, yes I’m a fan, out to be quite ancient and it’s not a complete lie. By TikTok standards, anyone born in the ’70s and ’80s is a fossil but we look younger than the rest, no doubt due to the good music we grew up with. If you want to take that as a jab against modern music, that’s completely up to you.
I sincerely hope that a new date will be added for Cape Town or that it will at least be moved to the stadium for more people to be accommodated. May is my birthday month and this would make 11-year-old me so happy to sing along, live, and not care about people’s ears for a change.
*Tour cover image attributed Backstreet Boys
Miss_Pretorius 