On the road: Backstreet Boys among major acts headed to Bethel Woods

Jul. 8—Some of the world's biggest acts will stop this summer at a venue packed with history.

Located about a 90-minute drive from Scranton, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, 200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York, is best known as the site of the historic 1969 Woodstock festival. Today, though, Bethel Woods is home to a concert pavilion with covered and lawn seating as well as a museum looking back on the site's history.

For the Backstreet Boys, Bethel Woods also is the latest stop in a tour begun before the pandemic. After a couple years off, picking up the DNA World Tour in Las Vegas in late spring almost felt like they were back at the beginning of their career, singer A.J. McLean said recently.

"Even though last summer concerts tried to come back and a couple of them got shut down and some of them continued, nothing really picked up until a few months ago now, and people want to see concerts again," he said.

It felt like a return to normal, McLean noted, and getting to share that moment with their fans was really awesome.

"To be on stage opening night in Vegas, to see people not having to wear a mask and to see people smiling and singing and dancing was heartwarming," he said.

The boy band known for hits such as "I Want It That Way" and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" will bring its tour to Bethel Woods on Sunday, July 24, at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for members and at 6 for the public.

"I don't think I missed a tour bus this much in my life," McLean joked. "And also, even though it's been a blessing to be home with my kids and my wife and my family, they're ready for daddy to go."

Like many other artists, McLean still managed to stay busy during the pandemic lockdown. He did three television shows, released nail polish and clothing lines, and worked on some solo music. He also has "been on a real health kick," McLean said, as he tried to perfect his golf game, enjoyed mountain biking and got back in the gym, losing 20 pounds in four months. Even better, "my sobriety is kicking ass," he said.

"I don't really like to be idle for too long," McLean said.

The tour will keep McLean and the rest of the group — Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson — busy through March, taking them first across North America and then to Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand. While the "nuts and bolts" of this show remain the same from before the pandemic, McLean said, "stage-wise, the show is definitely going to be different, so it will feel like a different show to anyone that's already seen the arena or stadium version." The show is broken up into four parts with 32 songs and goes non-stop for two hours, he said.

"I think Act I and Act IV are the two most popular, but I think close second would be Act III, because we're bringing back songs that we haven't done since 'Millennium' as well as we're doing our new a capella song 'Breathe' off 'DNA,'" McLean said, adding, "That really gets a great response, but I think there's something for everybody."

Fans were elated to see the group back in action, McLean said, with some people who attended the meet-and-greet telling them the show was even better than the first time they saw it.

"The fan reaction has just been overwhelming," he said. "They're stoked, and they're all amped up for the summer."

McLean noted how rare it is for a group like the Backstreet Boys to not only continue to perform but just to exist, as many boy bands don't last. The guys have been together for more than 25 years and released numerous hits throughout that time, which he called "a huge testament to both the music and the fans."

"Our fans are basically kind of an extension of us," McLean said. "They've become families. ... They still know what hotel we're staying at before we do. They really are an extension of who we are, and I don't know a lot of artists that have that kind of a rapport with their fans."

Contact the writer: cwest@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5107; @cheaneywest on Twitter