“I’m Taking Off” Tour featuring Nick Carter – REVIEW

On Nick Carter’s “I’m Taking Off” tour he came to the House of Blues in Chicago. With him came supporting act Guinevere. You can check out our review after the break.

The Chicago House of Blues has always been a great spot for singers and performers. And by looking at the crowd already there at 8:20 pm, it seemed like the Backstreet Boys’ affiliation of Nick Carter is still alive and kicking.

When I entered the venue, the stage was ready for Guinevere, with four standing banners of her face covering the band instruments for Carter’s set later. The DJ on the left was churning out some club beats for the crowd, which was, not surprisingly, composed of women ages 20-35.

Guinevere opened the show promptly at 8:30. She kicked it off with her original “Beautiful/Ugly” followed by her rendition of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. After a little bit of research, I found out that Cirkut, the producer of her song “Crazy Crasy” is the person who has also produced songs for Ke$ha and Taio Cruz.

She paused and her DJ took picture of her, her back-up dancers, with the crowd behind them. She sang her heart out with her original “Liar”. This surprised me a bit because she really has a good voice, which I wasn’t expecting from the other pop/club songs she just sang. And then she performed another song called “Go” and mashed it up with Bon Jovi’s go to song for karaoke enthusiasts – “Livin’ on a Prayer”. In the middle of the song, she asked the crowd “Do you guys like marshmallows?” To which the crowd, in my opinion, got weirded out. I did. Next thing I know, she shouts “Marshmallow cannon time!” and they pull out these toy cannons and starts shooting marshmallows at the crowd.

She closed her set with her single “Crazy Crazy” which is, as I expected, a very catchy dance song. She thanks the crowd and takes her bow and leaves.

We waited until 9:40 (from 8:55 pm when Guinevere ended her set) to finally see the former Backstreet Boys member. But of course, it was not without a grand entrance. One by one his band came out wearing what seemed to be space suits made from cheap materials. When he finally came out, he is set apart since he has the American flag colors on shoulders and hot pink pants. He takes off his helmet and the girls just shouted their lungs out. It was unbelievable how tons of girls still went gaga for him. He looked good, from his last videos in 2002 promoting his album “Now or Never”, he did not age that much. He was sporting a Bieber-esque mane but all the better for his fans who like it. He opened his set with one of his songs in his new album, “I’m Taking Off”. He followed it off with “Not the Other Guy” mashed-up with The Killer’s “Somebody Told Me”.

“You guys are all aliens. It doesn’t matter if you’re legal or not.” The crowd went wild again. His showmanship is definitely still there, from growing up and maturing in the public eye, the guy sure knows how to entertain his people. At one point, he even did the Jesus pose (arms outstretched, like being crucified, looking at the ceiling). Then he called out one of the fan members in the audience to “help him out” with unzipping his jacket. The most hilarious thing happened he said “Just like sex, you can’t do it alone.” And then looked at his right hand and said “I’m sorry.”

He sang his old song “I Got You” which the crowd definitely knew. He sang “Nothing Left to Lose” mashed-up with “With or Without You” from U2. Then came Backstreet Boys’ “Incomplete” which I still definitely knew by heart. Even “Cry for You” from his last album made me want to be a fan girl again. The song definitely shows Carter’s vocal prowess, proving that he wasn’t just the pretty boy in BSB but also one of their lead vocalists, second to Brian Littrell. He did “So Far Away” and then BSB’s “Larger Than Life”.

He closed his set with his single “Burning Up”, which, of course, the crowd already knew the lyrics, as most of the people there were really the dedicated fans of BSB. In this album, this song is probably the most upbeat or club-esque type one so for people who wanted Nick to stick with pop/rock songs, don’t worry, he didn’t betray you. I appreciate that he knows where his strengths are and where beautiful his voice belongs.

Overall, Nick Carter entertained his fans with his pop/rock songs from before and today. It was a nice blend of his new songs now and from the past. My boyfriend thought it was hilarious, he was enjoying himself quite a bit, stating “This is like watching the movie ‘The Room’ on stage! This is awesome!”

I have to admit that I was one of those shrieking tween girls in the 90s when they BSB was the “it” group. I still have tapes and CDs of Backstreet Boys but then I grew up and eventually became better with my song and artist choices. Still, the nostalgia is there. I won’t deny it, when I saw him last night thrusting his pelvis to the audience, I wanted to call my grade school/high school friends and make them jealous. I guess the women (some of them came with their moms) want to recreate that pop sensation in the 90s where songs from boy bands felt like it was dedicated for them only. Well, good job, Nick Carter. You still have the face, the voice, and the showmanship for your fans.

Information about the review…
Tour: “I’m Taking Off” Tour featuring Nick Carter
Artists: Nick Carter and Guinevere
Reviewer: Erika Baroman
Date: February 11, 2012
Venue: House of Blues in Chicago, IL