by Julie Keller
September 17, 1999, 3:20 p.m. PT
Weeping teens, dry your eyes.
Despite Hurricane Floyd's best efforts, the
Backstreet Boys are back--finally.
The five-member boy band will launch its sold-out
North American tour tonight at 8 p.m. (ET) at the
Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Earlier, Floyd's brutal rain and wind prompted
cancellations of the group's original road
openers--Tuesday and Wednesday dates in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. Those shows have been
rescheduled for December 4 and 5.
Tonight, the Boys catch a break. Floyd's gone, and
the forecast in Charlotte calls for clear and
otherwise nonhurricanelike conditions. MTV News'
Chris Connelly reported the group is planning a
19-song, one-hour-and-45-minute set. (And for
those who relish in such trivia, the expected
opening number will be--surprise!--their new
single, "Larger Than Life." Available at a store
near you.)
Fans needed to be larger than life to snag seats
for the Boys' tour. In August, all tickets for the
group's 11-week, 39-city tour were snatched up in
one day, with most of the 765,000 available
tickets gone within a mere hour. Ticket sales
generated around $30 million.
Hurricane Floyd, meanwhile, has pretty much run
its course, allowing the numerous East Coast-based
film and TV productions that were shut down to
resume action. The Wilmington, North
Carolina-based cast and crew of the WB hit,
Dawson's Creek, will return to the set Monday, as
will the Florida-based company of the network's
new family drama, Safe Harbor.