Title: Aaron Carter springs into night of souped-up fun
Source: Star Tribune
Source: http://www.startribune.com/stories/611/663341.html
Author: Jon Bream
Date: Aug 31, 2001
Topic: Summer 2001 Concert Review
Pick: Yes
Preteen heartthrob Aaron Carter drew the biggest audience of any act to the State Fair this year. In fact, the attendance of 17,819 on Thursday was better than any two other attractions combined. More important, Carter put on the best show at the Grandstand this year -- and probably the wildest, silliest and most spontaneous in memory at the fair.
Aaron who? The 13-year-old younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter has built his career the new-fashioned way. Eschewing commercial pop radio, he has been a mainstay for the past year or so on cable TV's Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and on Radio Disney. His 2000 CD "Aaron's Party" sold 2 million copies, and his current disc, "Oh Aaron," entered Billboard's chart at No. 7 three weeks ago.
Musically, he's a lightweight pastiche of pop styles -- including bubble-gum rap, diluted reggae, rock remakes and puppy-love ballads -- that speaks directly to his audience, the pre-boy-band crowd of kids ages 5 to 11.
He's not much of a rapper or a singer. But he's a cute kid, with moussed-up blond hair and the attitude to match, outstanding dance moves and boundless energy.
What made Thursday's show so special was the intangible. It was the last night of the 13-week Aaron's Party Tour, and he was in the mood to have some extra-special fun. On any other night, his show might have seemed like any other carefully choreographed teen-pop production. But on this night he let it all hang out.
At first, Carter came on like the Johnny Rotten of teen pop, all bratty and drunk on his stardom, swaggering around the stage, his voice hoarse -- no, completely shot. He became smarmy and bratty at the same time on "Not Too Young, Not Too Old" and began playing human dodge-'em cars with his dancers. Then for "Real Good Time," Carter sprayed six cans of Silly String on his drummer, who never missed a beat.
For the rest of the night, things got silly -- Silly String, Supersoakers, ketchup, milk with cereal, buckets of ice water thrown among Carter, his band and security guards, with members of the opening acts joining in. In the midst of all the indulgent nuttiness, Carter kept his cool, dancing with verve and attitude, throwing in limber, athletic and graceful moves -- including one-hand cartwheels and break-dancing.
The 95 minutes of mayhem onstage was much more advanced than Carter's recordings. Even though many audience members -- average age appeared to be about 9, parents excluded -- sang along to the hits, the out-of-control party dragged on past their bedtime. Now maybe it's time for them to move on to Britney or the Backstreet Boys.
