Backstreet hassle. (lighting design for Backstreet Boys concert, Birmingham, England)

All the ingredients are there: handsome `boy band' with washboard stomachs and slick dance routines, state-of-the-art PA system, big glitzy lighting rig, wall to wall video, but somehow the Backstreet Boys' performance at the Birmingham NEC in the UK conspired to be something of a hollow experience. Some of the show's paucity stemmed from the venue--despite being one of Britain's foremost arenas, the roof is too low, causing both video screen and PA to block large chunks of what is very much a visual presentation. Still, the production staff quite obviously worked tirelessly to make this show happen.

Lighting design was by Scott Phillips of Premier Global Productions (PGP), based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Virtually unknown in Europe, this company has no cause for modesty in presenting its …