Source: The Hartford Courant
Date: August 25, 2001
Source: Life; Pg. D7
Title: Aaron Carter -- 'Sooooo Awesome'
Author: By Trish Davis; Courant Staff Writer
Topic: Summer 2001 Concert Review
His stardom was evident when the footage of the teen pop idol rolled across a screen before his performance. It was a younger, longer-haired Aaron Carter being interviewed in Europe about his worldwide appeal.
It wasn't necessary to step outside the country to understand that appeal Thursday night. Thousands of those fans, mostly screaming teen girls toting "I Love U Aaron" posters, packed a sold-out concert with Carter and other teen acts at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford.
Carter's latest album, "Oh Aaron" debuts No. 7 this week on the Billboard charts. His performance Thursday didn't fall short.
It had all the big-show theatrics: sparkling lights, multiple changes of clothing, dancers with big white wigs and Carter descending onto the stage in a chrome shell. But where some teen acts have used those elements to cover for inadequacies, they are an enhancement for Carter.
Carter's style could be called edgier than that of his big brother Nick's group, the Backstreet Boys. He fuses rap and pop to tell of fantasies like beating Shaquille O'Neal in one-one-one.
Though this was clearly a show for the young [no performer was over age 15], the selections crossed generational lines.
Carter attempted a cover of the Gap Band's "Outstanding." Myra, an up-and-coming artist whose powerful voice compared to Christina Aguilera, did justice to "Dancin' in the Street." A*Teen did a cover of Abba's "You Can Dance."
Myra was the most impressive of Carter's guests, possessing a mature sound. She wowed the crowd with her song "Miracles Happen," from the soundtrack to "The Princess Diaries."
Other performers included, "Nonny," a four-girl group; "Play," a cross between the Spice Girls and Dream; and Elektra's new young R& B prodigy, "Code Five," out of Boston.
But it was Carter, cartwheeling and riding a scooter, who topped Thursday's performances. Carter's rap delivery isn't remarkable and neither is his vocal ability. But at 13, he understands what it means to be an entertainer.
More simply put -- as a teen girl with rhinestones plastered across her forearm explained it -- "He's, like, sooooo awesome."
