Paul Flynn says:
The girls in the office were abuzz as the Backstreet Boys gig was announced. I imagined the concert - a band who at one stage were hot and cool, doing the same old choreographed dance moves they did 20 years ago. The only difference being they are now my age (mid to late-30s). And you know what guys my age look like when we try to do any sort of dance? Ridiculous.
There's something undignified and cringey about boy bands from the 90s still touring now. Rock bands can go and go for 30 or 40 years. Ageing pop stars - like most of us - have put on weight. And when you try to squeeze into those same 90s outfits you look like a shrink-wrapped pack of sausages.
I'm not saying the Backstreet Boys weren't a great boy band in their day; they were a huge disposable pop hit-making monster. Imagine how many Kiwi girls, wearing their favourite Barkers trackpants and Hypercolour T-shirt, bought copies of Smash Hits magazine and stuck Backstreet Boys posters in their bedrooms. It's these same girls who'll be attending this gig - leaving the kids at home with hubby for the night, getting all lairy after four overpriced sauvignon blancs and screaming like they did like 20 years ago.
Pop music, in its purest form, is a beautiful thing. It sits in your ear with its sugary melodies and for a few months of your life it's the soundtrack to your day. But once it's run its course, it should be left where it is - a funny nostalgic memory, only to be relived at work Christmas parties or the odd spin on the radio.
