On Tuesday evening, I found myself staring into the eyes of my middle school celebrity crush. For those of you who missed it, Aaron Carter was at the Majestic Theater, and I witnessed him perform with my own eyes. Aaron is back, and he is still amazing. The Florida native has been on tour since February 2013, and he happened to make a stop in Madison in an effort to win over the hearts of all the lady Badgers in the audience. The crowd consisted mainly of college-age girls and a noticeably large turnout of guys. If the males were earning major boyfriend points, or if they truly just love Aaron’s music, I’ll never know. But the show was terrific nonetheless.
After waiting almost an hour in anticipation for Carter to come on stage, he finally made the grandest entrance I’ve ever seen in a pop concert. He came out singing “I Want Candy” in all of its 1990s glory. Most of the girls in the audience shrieked and hit a decibel that only dogs can hear. Carter was dressed in a classy black blazer and sported his trademark spiked blonde hair. If that wasn’t enough to make the crowd go weak at the knees, he began to breakdance and threw in a few backflips for good measure. From then on, he had the audience hooked. The show was wildly upbeat and high energy. By the second or third song, Carter even managed to get the guys in the audience to bob their heads and throw their hands in the air. The singer moved all over the stage, interacting with the crowd and his band. He sang a few hits from his early albums like “Summertime” and “That’s How I Beat Shaq.” For the latter, he even donned a Lakers’ jersey. Halfway through his setlist, he even crowd surfed. He threw in a cover of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” for good measure as well. Thankfully, he avoided twerking and graced the audience with a few smooth dance moves and jumps.
I was unsure of how Carter would present himself on stage, given his decade-long absence from the public eye. But I was pleasantly surprised. He donned a humble demeanor throughout his show, and repeated to the audience how much he appreciated their enthusiasm after all these years. His attitude made the concert refreshingly personal. He chose to end his set with “Aaron’s Party.” The theater vibrated with everyone’s echoing voices as they sang his hit song right back to him. He performed two more encores at the audience’s request and left the stage insisting that Madison was the best show he’s done in years. A tip of the hat to you, Badgers. You know how to show our guests a good time.
It was the throwback ’90s concert of the season, yet Aaron Carter insists that he is just getting started. He’s writing new material, and hopefully we’ll see a release of a new album in the near future. Aaron is back in action, and as a ’90s fangirl, I could not be more excited.
