{"id":427,"date":"2026-05-25T16:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T16:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427"},"modified":"2026-05-25T16:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T16:13:19","slug":"review-backstreet-boys-remain-the-gold-standard-for-boy-bands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427","title":{"rendered":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>All of us in attendance had our favorite Backstreet Boys.<\/p>\n<p>Some were rooting first and foremost for Kevin. Others declared their love for AJ or were squarely in Howie\u2019s camp. And there\u2019s was no shortage of Kevin and Nick supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=425\">Heat wave at French Open changes clay courts and has fans begging for water<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always been a Brian guy \u2014 because, well, he\u2019s the best. (And, when it comes to \u201cboy band\u201d fandom, you really don\u2019t need any supporting evidence to back up that kind of proclamation.)<\/p>\n<p>Yet, we all came together with one thing in common on the closing night of BottleRock Napa Valley:<\/p>\n<p>Backstreet Pride.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, tens of thousands of music fans \u2014 of the 40,000-plus in the house for this multi-stage festival \u2014 were lined up in front of BottleRock\u2019s biggie Prudential Stage on Sunday night (May 24) to see the greatest boy band of the past 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>And, just to be clear, I certainly don\u2019t mean New Kids on the Block.<\/p>\n<p>It was the mighty Backstreet Boys \u2014 the legendary Orlando-born vocal quintet consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson and, best of all, Brian Littrell \u2014 and the multiplatinum-selling group would use the occasion to deliver a 90-minute headlining set that was rich on hits, personality, great vocal work and fun dance moves.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was a superb way to close out the 2026 BottleRock Napa Valley, the annual festival that featured so many diversely appealing acts \u2014 from such top-tier headliners as Lorde and Foo Fighters to lesser-knowns gems like Rilo Kiley and Larkin Poe \u2014 during its three-day run at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday had been a strong Day 3 in terms of entertainment offerings, including soul\/R&amp;B\/funk royalty Kool &amp; the Gang, rising indie-pop star Sombr (who is already big enough to warrant an arena tour that touches down at the SAP Center in San Jose on Oct. 7), San Diego reggae-rock faves Slightly Stoopid (which delivered a stupendous cover of the Grateful Dead\u2019s \u201cFranklin\u2019s Tower\u201d during its set) and hip-hop icon Ludacris.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=423\">Ex-Stanford, Los Gatos High School star shines in MLB debut<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After a colorful video montage opening segment, which kind of made the Backstreet Boys look like Marvel superheroes, the five vocalists burst onto the stage dressed in all white with \u201cLarger Than Life.\u201d And they\u2019d live up to that song title as they danced and boogied their way through the first of a generous number of tunes from the 1999 blockbuster \u201cMillennium.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of five of the singers \u2014 who are in the midst of a hugely successful residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas \u2014 sounded strong as they traded verses and matched fancy footwork during a steady succession of the fans favorites \u201cIt\u2019s Gotta Be You,\u201d \u201cAs Long as You Love Me\u201d and \u201cMore Than That.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The band had great success with the slow numbers, such as the gorgeous \u201cShow Me the Meaning of Being Lonely\u201d and \u201cDrowning,\u201d which left many fans swooning and a bit moony-eyed. And the best of that lot was the stunning \u201cQuit Playing Games (With My Heart),\u201d which is as superb a love ballad as anything that came out of the pop music genre in the \u201990s. Littrell, who also has done fine solo work in the Christian music realm, was a shining star on that stand-out track from the band\u2019s self-titled debut (released in Europe in 1996 and the U.S. in 1997).<\/p>\n<p>The Backstreet Boys closed up their main set with a vastly enjoyable homestretch run through \u201cShape of My Heart,\u201d \u201cI Want It That Way,\u201d \u201cGet Down (You\u2019re the One for Me)\u201d and other winners, before bouncing back into action with an encore of \u2014 what else? \u2014 \u201cEverybody (Backstreet\u2019s Back).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It also a powerful ways to conclude the 2026 chapter of BottleRock Napa Valley \u2014 and get fans in the mood to start planning for next year\u2019s festival. So, with their regular knack for superb timing, organizers immediately released the dates for the 2027 BottleRock \u2014 May 28-30 \u2014 and put presale tickets on the market. Ducats are now available \u201cfor their lowest prices \u201d ($436 for three-day GA passes) at bottlerocknapavalley.com.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Backstreet Boys setlist:<\/strong><br \/>\n1) \u201cLarger Than Life\u201d<br \/>\n2) \u201cIt\u2019s Gotta Be You\u201d<br \/>\n3) \u201cAs Long as You Love Me\u201d<br \/>\n4) \u201cMore Than That\u201d<br \/>\n5) \u201cDon\u2019t Want You Back\u201d<br \/>\n6) \u201cGet Another Boyfriend\u201d<br \/>\n7) \u201cShow Me the Meaning of Being Lonely\u201d<br \/>\n8) \u201cThe One\u201d<br \/>\n9) \u201cIncomplete\u201d<br \/>\n10) \u201cAll I Have to Give\u201d<br \/>\n11) \u201cDrowning\u201d<br \/>\n12) \u201cQuit Playing Games (With My Heart)\u201d<br \/>\n13) \u201cShape of My Heart\u201d<br \/>\n14) \u201cI Want It That Way\u201d<br \/>\n15) \u201cGet Down (You\u2019re the One for Me)\u201d<br \/>\n16) \u201cThe Call\u201d<br \/>\n17) \u201cEverybody (Backstreet\u2019s Back)\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=421\">Review: BottleRock favorite makes triumphant return to festival<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review: Backstreet Boys close out the 2026 BottleRock Napa Valley festival in grand style, following Foo Fighters, Lorde and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Review: Backstreet Boys close out the 2026 BottleRock Napa Valley festival in grand style, following Foo Fighters, Lorde and others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427\"},\"wordCount\":792,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427\",\"name\":\"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":645},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=427#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest","og_description":"Review: Backstreet Boys close out the 2026 BottleRock Napa Valley festival in grand style, following Foo Fighters, Lorde and others.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands","datePublished":"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427"},"wordCount":792,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp","articleSection":["Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427","name":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-25T16:13:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/200164e28cd52501d9a038a765bf60eb.webp","width":1024,"height":645},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=427#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: Backstreet Boys remain the gold standard for boy bands"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}