'A dream come true': UAE fans of Backstreet Boys gear up for blast from the past

Whether it's the power of nostalgia or the timeless appeal of their music, the Backstreet Boys concert is creating a wave of excitement. The 90s heartthrobs are returning to the UAE for a sold-out show at the Eithad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The fivesome, made up of Nick Carter , Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, are in the region as part of their DNA World Tour, in support of their 10th album, DNA. The tour, which began in 2019 but was postponed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, features a sturdy 30-song set list, with tracks from their latest album as well as the greatest hits. The group, who performed in Mumbai on Thursday and Delhi on Friday, will head to Bahrain on Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi show, followed by Jeddah on May 11 and Tel Aviv on May 13. Hira Amjad Ali, a resident of Dubai, was over the moon when she found out that Backstreet Boys were heading to the UAE. She immediately messaged her sister who lives in Oman to tell her that they have to go watch the band live. “Backstreet Boys were the first boy band my sister and I got introduced to in our early teens and we immediately fell in love,” she tells The National . “We had put up big posters in our room and would keep staring at them.” Likewise, the upcoming concert is a dream come true for Kaval Siddhu, 30. "I was eating a meal with my family when I noticed my shoulder do a move of its own to Larger Than Life while it played on TV," she recalls. "I knew this was my vibe.” Even though Siddhu had just started learning English, the music was something that caught her attention. Scroll through the gallery below for more pictures of Backstreet Boys fans in the UAE For Ayesha Mehmood, the Backstreet Boys concert is a way to revive all the good memories she shared with her late father. “My dad and I would often jam to their songs on long drives,” she says. “ As Long As You Love Me particularly helped me get through the phase of grief.” Faiza Ali’s childhood memories too are filled with her love for the group. In fact, she even took inspiration from her favourite band member, Carter, to create her first email address on Hotmail. And this is not the first time she’ll be seeing them perform live. "My husband took me to my first ever Backstreet Boys concert in the US when we lived there. I was also lucky enough to attend their last concert in Dubai in 2018,” she says. "Now, my five-year-old knows the lyrics of their songs.” For Nariman Qureshi, it was quite difficult to make friends as a child because her family moved a lot. "I felt extremely out of place but the Backstreet Boys were one of the best conversation starters and made the transition much easier," she says, adding that her recent move to Abu Dhabi coincided perfectly with the concert. Madhavi Liyanage is going above and beyond and reliving her teenage days in the perfect way possible. She’s getting T-shirts made for herself and her friends that pay homage to her Backstreet Boys T-shirt that she wore everywhere as a teenager. In 2018, Liyanage attended the Dubai concert and was in the front row. She even got singer AJ McLean's "sweaty towel”, which she has saved to this day “with minimal human contact”. Neha Mistry, 36, fell in love with the Backstreet Boys when she saw Carter in the Quit Playing Games (with My Heart) music video. She recalls sharing the songs on floppy disks. "Their music was the soundtrack to our teenage years, bringing back memories of innocent crushes and carefree days," she says. For Anika Berger, the Backstreet Boys concert is a way “to be young again”. “Their music allowed me to express how I was feeling, which wasn’t always easy as a teenager," she says. While UAE residents are thrilled about the coming concert, the excitement is not limited to the region. The concert has drawn a swarm of passionate music lovers from every corner of the world. Karan Jhaveri will be heading to Abu Dhabi from India to attend the concert with his friends. "We have been listening to their songs throughout our childhood so this is a very special moment for all of us,” he says. Sheema Khan, 31, feels the Backstreet Boys are the perfect reason to pack her suitcases and head off on her first post-childbirth trip from Pakistan. “It’s going to be my baby’s first time out of Pakistan,” she says, excited at the prospect of reliving her teenage memories and "shedding a tear or two" when she watches the boys perform live. Raahima Nasim says Backstreet Boys helped her find her true calling. "I was 13 when my sister and I decided to start a fan site — this was way before Facebook and Twitter,” she says, adding that she and her sister learnt graphic design, web design and web development from scratch to start www.bsbsquad.com . “Within one year, it became the most visited Backstreet Boys fan site, run by two 14-year-old girls from Pakistan. We even got affiliated with Ticketmaster.” This passion led to a media degree and a career in advertising. “Now I run my digital media agency with clients all over the world,” she adds. And the Backstreet Boys, who have been going strong for 30 years, look more than prepared to take them on a journey down memory lane. Scroll through the gallery below for more pictures of the Backstreet Boys

'A dream come true': UAE fans of Backstreet Boys gear up for blast from the past

The US group will perform a sold-out show at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena on Sunday as part of their DNA World Tour