That Time I Lived My Teenage Dreams, Now 20 Years Later

New year, same me, no surprises here.

If you listen to my radio show on the regular, this is old news, but deep beneath my alternative rock exterior is a boyband loving teenager who has been to more Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, NKOTB, 98* (and so on) concerts than I can even count. Sometimes, my '90's sneak out and make an appearance...

Back in the day, my mom, Momma T was our 'concert mom' - loading the girl gang into the Dodge Caravan to cart us around to sit in the very last row of the venue at whatever show we were headed to - this after camping outside of Filene's at the Galleria when Ticketmaster was an actual place you had to go to purchase tickets.

I digress....

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Back To Sphere Las Vegas...Again

When The Backstreet Boys announced their Sphere Las Vegas residency last February, we got the band back together, literally, the girls from high school took to the group chat and began planning our West Coast adventure. Before we knew it, the nine of us braved 115* heat to see the boys (opening night), some going to all three shows opening weekend in fact.

When the boys added more dates for late 2025/early 2026 we laughed at the idea of heading back out to catch another show...except it wasn't a joke, at all, and Vegas Val's Travel Agency was born. Here we are, less than a week after a whirlwind weekend of less than 48 hours on the ground in Vegas, but filled with more excitement than I can describe.

SEE ALSO: Concert Withdrawal Is A Real Thing

The Girls Are Back...Alright

A bit of a smaller crew this time around, but back to Vegas we went on Friday January 2nd at the crack of dawn. We had some time to enjoy the lights, sights, food and delicious cocktails that Vegas has to offer on Friday before a Backstreet-filled day on Saturday.

Believe it or not, with the hundreds of concerts I've been to in my life, i've never queued the way we did ahead of the show on Saturday, as we had GA tickets and wanted to get a prime location on the rail. This is going to sound so cocky, but, working in radio and going to concerts DOES have it's perks so i've never experienced the queue like this.

We got in line just outside Sphere campus around noon, with the grounds opening at 5:30pm, doors at 6:30pm, and the show starting around 8:45pm. Backstreet Boys fans DO NOT mess around, and we were in great company while passing the time in line on the streets of Vegas.

That Time I Met A Backstreet Boy

Again, my job affords me the incredible opportunity to meet so many incredible bands, artists and industry people on the regular, but this experience was different. I let out a '16-year-old Val' scream when they popped up (literally, toaster style) on stage and I realized just how close I was going to be to this band for the next 2 hours or so. Look at the pure joy in my face watching them, it's like a real-life emoji.

The show was incredible, I'm glad I was able to see it from a seat over the summer, taking in all the graphics and haptics of the venue, because this time I barely noticed that there were 20,000+ people in the room or what was on the screen. I was deadlocked onto the guys, feet in front of me.

After the show we headed into the Venetian for a VIP experience with Howie D from the Backstreet Boys, and I swear that my soul left my body. In typical Val fashion, words were hard, sentences didn't form, and I smiled so big that my face is distorted, but he couldn't have been nicer.

After our long day waiting outside the Sphere, to the show, and then after party, we went back to the room to pack, quick 30-minute cat nap, and to the airport at 4am for our early flight. Tiring, yes, worth it 100%, are our 40-something year old bodies paying for it...absolutely, but as long as they'll be music, [these girls] will surely be coming back again...