Title: Talented backups carry Aaron Carter
Source: The Plain Dealer
Source: ARTS & LIFE; Pg. E5
Author: Anastasia Pantsios
Date: September 7, 2002
Topic: Summer 2002 Concert Review
If you weren't a grade-school-age girl or parent of one, you probably felt out of place at the Tower City Amphitheater Thursday evening. Although the crowd was sprinkled with teens, most fans of preteen heartthrob Aaron Carter were under 4 feet tall.
Carter, the younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, has quite a resume for a 14-year-old. His fourth full-length CD, "Another Earthquake," has just been released; his first came out when he was only 10. And he's been performing since he was 7. All that aside, wholesome, blond good looks are Carter's main asset. He's clearly trying to roughen the edges a little - he wore a black slash - like a football player's - under his eye for much of the show and later donned camouflage coveralls and a backward baseball cap for an Eminem look. But he has a hopelessly angelic face. When he sat on a pedestal that rose from the catwalk behind the stage, clad in white, to sing "Do You Remember," it was clearly a moment that his fans would remember for a long time.
Carter doesn't really have a particular talent. He's not much of a singer, rapper or dancer. When he picked up a guitar on a patriotic tune that featured waving flags and the video screen flashing "U.S.A." and when he sat down at a white grand piano for a couple of tunes, his band members were clearly doing the heavy musical lifting.
But he does put on quite a show, thanks to that band, which gave the music a popping-dance-funk edge. The show also featured three backup vocalists and eight talented dancers. He blended himself well into their midst and let them carry him along. The staging was impeccable too, featuring stairs, ramps, a giant video screen (for those yummy close-ups!), a red sports convertible and a rain of glitter, among other things. Whether singing ballads like "I'm All About You," a heavy rocker like "Eye of the Tiger" or the funk-edged, hip-hop-influenced dance pop that dominated the show, Carter worked hard during his hour and 10 minutes on stage.
The only surprise was how little he talked to the crowd. Generally, teen pop acts that can't wow 'em with talent wow 'em with charm. Carter spoke only two or three times briefly.
Before Carter came on, three clearly fabricated teen pop groups performed for about an hour. No Secrets featured five attractive teen girls with the pep, adorability and flirtatiousness of high school cheerleaders, doing a mix of ballads such as "I Remember You." Jump 5, two hunky guys and three cute girls in their midteens, excelled at acrobatic dancing. Triple Image, three little honey blondes who looked to be junior-high age or younger, ran through three lip-synced tunes accompanied by awkward dance moves.
How was it for you? E-mail your concert comments to music
@plaind.com
Pantsios is a free-lance writer from Cleveland Heights.
