[Concert Review] Big Time Rush cash in on their boyish charm at Scotiabank

It was, for a little while at least, generally understood that the ‘boy band’ —and the ‘girl group’ — was history. The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and New Kids on the Block had disbanded or faded out of style and the pop world turned elsewhere.

Evidently, the Los Angeles group Big Time Rush are disproving that — although they’re perhaps just soaking up some of the overflowing fame of the British group, One Direction — as evidenced by their show at Scotiabank Place Friday night.

Yes, the boy band is back and the kids love it. The rest of us are just going to have to wait it out.

What seems to make groups like Big Time Rush successful is that unlike the majority of artists, they have very little intention of branching out creatively. Big Time Rush knows its audience and treats it well. They give their fans exactly what they want: lights, colours, streamers, fireworks and irrefutably catchy harmonies.

The four lads — Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena Jr. and Logan Henderson — did just what they need to Friday night. They sang, danced, welcomed their fans to their “Big Time Summer Tour,” and introduced themselves as if everyone in attendance didn’t already have pictures of them taped to their lockers.

“With all powers combined, we’re Big Time Rush,” Maslow announced. It’s all buzzwords, synchronized lighting, rising dance platforms, boyish charm, and buzzwords. Oh, and wardrobe changes.

The band is an extension of the Nickelodeon television series of the same name, which follows four young hockey players from Minnesota — who are in fact fictional versions of the group’s members, played by themselves — who are selected to form a boy band. What a dynamic, multi-talented group of young men.

Australian sensation Cody Simpson, the youngest of the four acts who opened the concert. “I guess I should start off by saying my name is Cody Simpson, and I’m 15,” he told his audience, to which he received, of course, piercing shrieks.

Simpson is the Justin Bieber of Australia: the same earnest melodies, dance moves and creepy smile. But what separates him from the rest of the rank mess that is the current world of pop music is that his songs are, admittedly, somewhat enjoyable (in comparison, that is). Despite its incoherent title, his first single “iYiYi” is actually quite the jam.

Tyler Medeiros and Victoria Duffield, both 17-year-old Canadian singers and dancers, opened up the show.

Source:  OttawaCitizen.com
Shared by: BigTimeRushTV.com