The Life of a Backstreet Boys Fan: BSB at Jingleball Chicago!

Hi fellow BSB fans. I know it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this blog and I was itching to do so and thought now is the time.

I wanted to update you on the Kiss 103.5 Jingle Ball concert that I went to on Wednesday, December 14^th. Of course the only reason I went was to see BSB! The main act was considered Ariana Grande…I say considered because I think that spot should have belonged to our guys. Some of the other acts were: Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo, Lucas Graham, Daya, Hailee Steinfeld, and Niall Horan.

It was really fun to go and I love these types of concerts. I’ve been to rock, pop, country, and classical concerts and for me, pop concerts are the best, especially when BSB are there! I was anticipating most of the other acts too though, just because they have their hits on the radio and listen to a lot of their songs while I’m at the gym.

Hailee Steinfeld had a good, live voice. Sometimes they sound great on the record but sound terrible live and Hailee sounded impressive. I love her song, “Starving!” It is such a catchy, perfect pop song. She seems like a sweetheart too.

Hailee Steinfeld

Daya was also enjoyable because she has quite a few hits, including “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Sit Still Look Pretty,” and “Hide Away.” I remember thinking she didn’t sound as good to me as Steinfeld, but was a fun set to see performed live.

Daya

Lucas Graham really impressed me. He sounded spectacular live and I absolutely love his song “7 Years” and listened to it on repeat when it first came out. He mentioned he is up for some Grammys and I was happy to hear that because I think he’s deserving of that honor. I thought his band was the most lively and fun and I love the uniqueness and quality of both his voice and lyrics. Not saying he’s ugly or anything, but he isn’t the typical pop stud you see out there on the scene and that’s refreshing. If only we could apply that to our pop princesses. A great voice is exactly that and doesn’t need the prettiest faces in either gender. For some reason, he gave me a Bruno Mars’ type vibe and I certainly didn’t mind that.

Lucas Graham

Lucas Graham and his band

I think Niall Horan from One Direction was next. He got the most screams and it was amusing to me to see that the boyband love transcends generations. If I ever have a girl, I can’t wait to bond over her favorite boyband member lol. Niall only had one song to sing, which I felt was a terrible let down to his fans, but I suppose it was good he sang the one. It’s called “This Town” and I remember hearing it but not knowing he was the guy that sang it. I find the song simple and sweet lyrically, but for me falls short and becomes sleepy. I do appreciate he is taking a more simplistic style to music, but it seems that the club beats get more airplay than the weepy ballads. Vocally, he sounded okay. FYI, my favorite One Direction song is “Night Changes” and I like Zayn’s solo efforts better with his single “Pillowtalk.” Too bad Niall couldn’t have sang “Night Changes” and some other One Direction hit songs by himself like BSB sometimes do with their solo endeavors.

Niall Horan

I was eager to see Tove Lo live just because Nick always says good things about her and her music. I listen to a lot of her stuff as well during workouts. I enjoyed her first hit “Talking Body” and it was fun to hear “Cool Girl” sung live as well. She struck me as the most provocative of all the acts, but didn’t necessarily turn me off. I applaud her efforts to embrace female sexuality, but remember thinking that P!nk’s approach is much more my style and it made me miss her “Truth About Love” tour that I seen in 2012. Tove Lo comes off to me as a little bit grungy. I wanted to say trashy but felt that was a little too much, although maybe not considering she took her VIP pictures with a Playboy bunny shirt on lol. With Pink, it’s more powerful and beautiful, but that’s just my take.

Tove Lo

Ellie Goulding did a good job, but for some reason fell short for me. I remember when she first emerged on the scene for dance music and really enjoyed her stuff. I still do, but other dance music is seeming to outlive her stuff lately with me. I liked how there was pink confetti falling down at the end of “Love Me Like You Do” and admittingly, made me think of some of the scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey since they used that tune for the soundtrack. “Burn” was also fun to see live and I like the repetitiveness of “On My Mind.”

Ellie Goulding

Confetti!

Ariana Grande was considered the big name, but I thought she was the most disappointing. She sang two hits and some of her own Christmas songs. To be honest, I couldn’t stand her Christmas songs. They were filled with way too many sexual innuendos. I remember hearing “are you down for some of these milk and cookies” and wanted to roll my eyes. Leave that for the pop songs where they belong. I’ll stick with my traditional Christmas music, thank you. (By the way, the best Christmas songs are as follows: Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Wham! “Last Christmas,” and for something undeniably sexy…Christina Aguilera’s “Merry Christmas, Baby!”).

Ari

One other thing I must mention about Ariana Grande’s performance. She opened with “Side to Side” and even though I knew Nicki Minaj wasn’t going to be there (and I would have freaked if she was) I wanted to hear the rap sung live so bad. To me, that’s the best part of the song and gets me pumped up, “body smoking so they call me young Nicki Chimney, rappers in they feelings cause they feelin’ me, I give zero fucks and I got zero chill in me.” I do enjoy some Nicki Minaj from time to time.

So I saved The Best for last. The Backstreet Boys!!!!! Naturally, I thought they made the show. I wouldn’t have been happy if they weren’t there and would have definitely left disappointed. My only complaint is that I wish they had a longer set. I want to say they sang about five songs: “Everybody,” “Incomplete,” “We’ve Got It Goin’ On,” “Larger than Life,” and “I Want it That Way.” I wish I could have been a lot closer, but the seats were alright. I wasn’t going to pay even more to be up close when they wouldn’t be the whole show. I felt they brought the most energy and I love the dance breakdown during “We’ve Got It Goin’ On.” They had some smoke pyrotechnics, which was cool and advertised Vegas (which is only like ten weeks away…eek!) They all looked and sounded great and Nick interacted with the crowd the most. They didn’t sing either of their Christmas songs, but I think I would have rather have heard what they did anyway. It did make me excited to hear they are trying to work on a Christmas album for the future. We all know that’s been long overdue.

BSB!

LOL at the girl's face. I would have been the same way!

Crazy Nick!

The Best Group Ever!

Love this one!

The "We've Been Waiting" stance!

BSB also did a promotional appearance for the Sugar Factory in Chicago. I didn’t go, but the ice cream and burgers look incredible! There’s one in Vegas, so that could be a potential idea. I’m not sure how this event went for the fans, but I know they did take a few fan pictures, but the crowd looked sort of big. I’m missing BSB afterparties so bad! That was the best type of BSB event with the exception of an actual concert. It just felt like hanging with the guys and listening to awesome music with dancing and drinks. I loved it!