Inside the larger than life experience, after the break!

Backstreet Boys @ The Sphere Las Vegas (07/27/25)

"Lookin' Back"

DirectTV, surprisingly, changed my musical life over two decades ago. Having instant access to 1000+ satellite channels from all across globe brought countless cultures right to our SoCal living room. This listener couldn't get enough of Canada's version of MTV... MuchMusic. A place where Nick, Brian, Howie, Kevin, and AJ... better known as the Backstreet Boys... were slowly building names for themselves before arriving in the states and kicking off a Boy Band Renaissance throughout the early 2000s.

Been a fan before their influence spread across the globe. Though I was infected in hindsight... thanks to Canadian television.

BSB had such a profound impact on my pop music era that I continued to support them even after the spotlight faded. One of my favorite memories involves the lengths in which I went to kickoff a teenage pop fix. Dragging the family to countless random record shops in hope they had Backstreet Boys' self-titled debuted as an import CD. Most stores didn't. One did! You can probably picture my disappointment discovering "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" wasn't included on it. Had to wait another year for the US release.

Life before g o o g l y & music streaming, right?

What feels like embarrassing moments back then has crystalized into happy memories in the years that followed. For I never went to great lengths for any Fandom besides buying obscure LPs and singles from record shops throughout my youth, so the likelihood I'd ever see the Backstreet Boys live never felt like a possibility until I began this concert showcase journey in 2010. Though I totally overlooked them for years. Never imagined myself experiencing them from the back of the room, you know?

That all changed when they announced their recent Las Vegas Sphere residency, which sounded like a can't miss live show experience that not only featured a buzzworthy venue but also one of my recent concert bucket list contenders. A perfect storm happening in a desert heat wave. So we booked, packed, and celebrated our final days of our summer vacation freedom in the town called Paradise once more. Mere hours before the showcase.

Will talk about everything before and after this adventure in an upcoming foodie centric journal... if you are curious. Those will feature words and pictures from the Backstreet Boys' fan experience at the Venetian which we visited earlier in the afternoon.

Seeing Nick, Brian, Howie, Kevin, and AJ live still feels like a dream come true. Their expansive set list, featuring all my favorite tracks (including Siberia), felt limitless. Have been singing them on repeat around the house in the days that followed. Have no complaints about it. The Backstreet Boys are timeless. The Boys seemed quite joyous celebrating the anniversary of 'Millennium' alongside their favorites songs on-stage at the Sphere to a great response from us. Made for a fun concert.

However, I'm still trying to compose my feeling about the Sphere as a concert venue. Having a colossal video screen with crazy visuals should be a testament unto itself. However, if only a fraction of your attendees are experiencing it... then there's gonna be a major disconnect occurring throughout the show. For someone. We were definitely in that minority.

We were seated in the back, below the upper deck. That deck blocked 60% of the screen. Wish I could say this issue was an "us problem" when in reality, our entire section... including some handicap seating blocks... had this problem. Strange they'd build obstructed seating in a venue where the gimmick is "big screen", but that's the situation. It turned this concert into just "a show" not an experience. Honestly none of my feelings would be bad if they had just TV monitors playing the show feed above the crowd. That way we could see... you know... the larger than life show.

I'm sure fans towards the back, in section high above us, might have bigger complaints like "BSB looking like ants" but at least the guys take a platform up to them by the end of the show. They just vanished for two songs for us. We were merely looking at half a screen. Poor design and execution. Felt empathy for the more hardcore fans around us.

And we ended up leaving our seats to get our "$200 pictures" during that finale sequence (see below). Security be damned!

So I can't recommend The Sphere Concert experience unless you're willing to pay for overpriced premium seats or floor access. I'm just shocked that a place selling "big ass screen" has seats where you can't see it fully. That's all. Just know all seats aren't equal. So do your research before buying. I am still extremely grateful to knock off two big names - Backstreet Boys & The Las Vegas Sphere - off my concert wish list. Everything else are bonuses.

Ultimately, sometimes the most off putting complaints can make for meaningful memories in the history being written. We're never gonna forget this summer vacation break in Paradise, Nevada... and that's all that matters! Perfect punctuation to a journey that beamed into my life, from a satellite, two pop eras ago. Enjoy the candid pictures!