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| A.J. McLean makes triumphant return Lou Carlozo Chicago Tribune Aug. 27, 2001 12:30:00 MILWAUKEE - The scene at Bradley Center looked, in many ways, like your typical Backstreet Boys concert: thousands of adolescent girls shrieking their lungs out for their multi-platinum boy band heroes. But the message scrawled on the back of 14-year-old Sami Liebl's T-shirt told why the night was especially poignant. It was for singer A.J. McLean, back for his first concert since completing alcohol rehabilitation, and it said, "We knew you could do it, A.J." "When I saw the band on TV, how they were crying when they talked about A.J., I thought, 'If he doesn't come back it might be the end,' " said Liebl, a 9th grader from Sheboygan, Wisc. "I'm glad he's back. He should sing forever." For Liebl's mom, just the fact that McLean took time off before returning to the stage was enough. "It's a great message," said Pam Liebl, 43, a homemaker. "He knew he had a problem and he knew when to back away from it, deal with it and not let it kill him." Friday's concert by one of the two best-selling boy bands, along with "N Sync, that in recent years rose to dominate the charts as part of the youth-aimed pop music trend, showcased textbook Backstreet Boys, complete with pyrotechnics and dozens of costume changes. But the concert, the group's first since the tour was put on hold on July 9, was especially charged by A.J.'s return; for fans, it was an excuse to scream extra loud whenever A.J. played air guitar or sang a solo vocal. And for McLean, it was a chance to express gratitude to the Backstreet faithful. "Man, is it good to be back, and I'm trying not to cry," McLean said, dressed in a white tuxedo, tails and fedora. "I thank you all for the support, the love and letting me do what I had to do to get meself, myself - see, my speech is still screwed up! - back together." He added: "I'm celebrating 51 days sober today, so enough about me. We're fine, we're staying, the Backstreet Boys aren't going anywhere" (except, apparently, to a novelty store; the band doused McLean with an aerosol can of party string during the encore.) But one great (and assumedly straight) show under McLean's belt is one thing; staying sober through long road stretches will prove to be another, experts say. While McLean can afford himself the best help available, it won't offer much relief from the pressures of stardom and life in the pop music fast lane. "Things are going to be tough on him as a person, not because the fans reject him," said Dwight Heath, an anthropology professor at Brown University and editor of the International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture. "My prediction is the fans will embrace him warmly. The problem will be after the concert, when things are winding down and people will want to go out and party. That's the tough part. All the old cues will be there - all the temptations with his old friends and colleagues will be there - and he's being thrown back into the world that got him (into rehab)." "The normal everyday person is told to stay away from persons, places and things that will trigger them to go back into use again - but for celebrities, that's very difficult to do," agreed David Rosenker, vice president of adolescent services at the Caron Foundation, an addiction treatment center in Wernersville, Pa. "He needs to be vocal about his recovery; there are a lot of kids out there and he's not only got the pressure of being a role model, but being true to himself. It's a delicate balance." Outside Bradley Center, A.J.'s return dominated discussion in the hours before the show, according to Rachael Frydman, promotions director for WXSS-FM 103.7. "We've been out here since 6 a.m. and a lot of kids are just really supportive of him. It's great to see how they're just trying to pull some good out of this, with him going into rehab and kicking it (alcohol)." It was also a surprise to many that the band didn't postpone their show, as they have done for numerous other tour dates during A.J.'s recovery. "All day long they've been saying, 'Oh, he's really here, they didn't cancel,' " Frydman said. "It's their favorite band and they want to see it - they don't want to see the end of it." As for what's ahead, at least one other Backstreet Boy, the married member, Brian Littrell, has recommended that A.J. find a woman to help him stay in line. That sounded like a good idea to Allison Ellsworth, 14, from Bayside, a suburb of Milwaukee. "I think everyone should have someone," said Ellsworth, a high school freshman. Just in case A.J. might be reading, Ellsworth pointed to her friend Jenny Koch, 19, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Washington County and a huge A.J. fan. "All A.J. has to do is find Jenny," she said, laughing, "and he'll be all set." |
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