PHOENIX — I've attended a lot concerts at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix over the years, but I've never experienced what I did at last night's Big Time Rush show.
The old Madhouse On McDowell shook. I mean that quite literally. The concrete beneath my feet was quaking from the weight of thousands of teens and bopping and hopping along to the made-for-TV boy band.
It was the final concert of the 2011 Arizona State Fair concert series and it would appear from the full house of at least 12,000 - literally every usable seat was occupied - that they saved the best for last. (The fair ends its three-week run after today.) The band also said it saved the best for last; Arizona was the final stop on BTR's summer tour.
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For the uninitiated - by that I mean anyone who doesn't have a tween or teen at home tuned into the Nickelodeon network - Big Time Rush is a show about four easy-on-the-eyes, kinda clumsy hockey-playing Minnesota boys seeking to strike pop music gold in Hollywood. In real life, the quartet - Kendall Schmidt, Carlos Pena Jr., James Maslow and Logan Henderson - have turned their Hollywood currency into pop music gold. Wherever they go, they are greeted with squealing girls, sold-out shows and snaking lines of fans eager for a glimpse or an autograph.
At the coliseum last night, the ear-piercing chorus of screams came 40 minutes before the guys took the stage and continued nearly non-stop, threatening at every turn to drown out the music.
About the music: It's catchy, poppy, totally danceable, with predictable four-part harmonies that are sometimes layered and always impeccable. In a 75-minute show, they hit all the highlights from their TV show and debut album, as well as a couple songs off their forthcoming sophomore album, "Elevate," due out Nov. 21: "Big Time," "Til I Forget About You," "Stuck," "If I Ruled the World," "The City Is Ours," "Halfway There" and "Boyfriend."
Their stage show is choreographed to the most minor details, from the infectious, cardio-pumping dance moves to inviting an audience member to join them in their acoustic set. Young Kristine in the front row had the honor, landing on a stool smack between hunky James and equally hunky Logan while the guys wooed her with a fan appreciation song "You're Why." When Kendall wrapped his arms around her neck from behind and planted a kiss on her cheek, the coliseum erupted, and the cool blue and white glare of cell phone screens from fans snapping pictures cut ribbons through the dark.
Even the adults in the audience, the parents taking their young kids to their first-ever concert, were bopping and fist pumping, singing along without missing a word.
The singing led to bopping, which led many thirtysomethings to engage in a jumping-fist-pumping fit, which on Saturday night at the coliseum left the 46-year-old building shaking and quaking along.
 The Arizona State Fair opens at 10 a.m. Admission is $10 adults, $5 for kids 5 to 13.
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