Tell me why I can’t be there where you are…

Are they original? Yeahhhh. Are they the only ones? Well if your question is specifically referring to ‘the only 90s and 00s boyband playing at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on May 7, 2023″ then, sure, yeahhhh.

Yeahh, sorry we mean ‘yes’ — this is the news that global pop royalty, Backstreet Boys are back in the UAE for a one-night-only Yas Island date as part of their DNA World Tour.

But sadly, and we swear — we’re not playing games with your heart here — they’ve all sold out. In fact, every seat in the full range of all categories was snapped up in less than six hours. The cold faceless machine of the venue’s booking systerm, does not care who you are, where you’re from, just that you love Backstreet Boys enough to buy a ticket.

Here’s a millennial milestone for you: Local Backstreet stans are using a platform (social media) that was invented a full decade after the band hand was formed, to implore tour organisers to put on another date. There’s not much wiggle room in the schedule though, with a show in Delhi on the May, 5 and a follow up GCC show in Bahrain on May 9.

Backstreet’s Back

Tickets to see the Abu Dhabi show went on sale at midday yesterday (Friday, February 24) through the livenation.me website.

They have of course been in the UAE before, their last time was in April, 2018 when they put on back-to-back(street) shows at the Media City Amphitheatre, and then White Dubai on the same night. And before that, it was 2009 at The Palladium, if you can remember that venue.

All you people can’t you see, can’t you see

The Backstreet Boys rose to fame in 1996 with the release of their first album, and went on to sell over 130 million records. The five-piece, comprising of AJ McLean, Howie D, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell have enjoyed worldwide success for more than 25 years, and are widely regarded as the most successful boyband of all time.

Their back catalogue includes such 90s nostalgia-jarring tracks as  ‘I Want It That Way’, ‘Everybody’, ‘Larger than Life’ and ‘Shape Of My Heart’.

Etihad Arena, Yas Island, May 7.

Images: Instagram