The worldwide Backstreet Boys tour for their album ‘In A World Like This’ was extended for another year due to popular demand. When the boy band announced their second round of concert dates and locations, we were excited to find out that they were making their way to Santiago Chile, where we were currently living at the time.
Lead up to the concert
Super excited for this once in a lifetime concert experience, I jumped into preparation mode. I paid for a 1 year subscription to their website to get access to the pre-sale of the concert. This was a necessity as we are not fluent Spanish speakers and we didn’t want to be stressed and miss out on this opportunity.
For those who are unaware, I’m the biggest Backstreet Boys fan ever. It’s my all-time favorite band/music group. We’ve been to two previous Backstreet Boys concerts in Sydney Australia but never have we been given the opportunity to see them in another country, which was pretty cool.
We purchased online our pre-sale tickets which was sold out in 5 minutes. There were also special VIP tickets which allowed you to take a photo with the group and also attend the sound check event. But sadly, we were slow getting those tickets with our mobile bandwidth internet speed. Even though we didn’t get those tickets, which are separate from the concert ticket and cost an arm and a leg, we were super happy that we got tickets in the mosh pit area, right in the front of the stage. Previously we were only able to get tickets around the 10th row and on the side of the venue, so this was good. The tickets sold out fast as they haven’t been to Chile since the Black and Blue world tour and this was the only concert in Chile they were planning to have.
A few days before the concert date, I received an email regarding an after party even. We ended up purchasing two tickets costing about $80AUD. As dorky as it sounds, we also watched the BSB movie which recently came out as part of the lead up to the concert.
Backstreet Boys tour concert in Chile
On the day of the concert, we picked up our tickets after lunch at the Movistar arena, the main arena in Santiago. We spoke to the workers there to figure out what was the best time to go considering it was a ‘first in-first serve’ kind of mosh pit area. We decided to get dressed and head back at about 5:30pm even though the doors only opened at 7:30pm. We were nervous because there were already people lining up at 1pm!
After we got dressed, we headed back over and found a line that was fairly short and waited with the rest of the fans. There were a lot of people selling fake VIP gear including pens, t-shirts, and bandannas. We ended up getting a bandanna, which Albie wore the entire night- what a sport!
I wore my Finders Keepers skirt, an Urban Outfitters stripe crop top, H&M black boots and a oversized coat from Ripley. The boots were new and rubbed against my ankle, so we put our trusty lip balm there. Surprisingly it stayed there the whole night and didn’t hurt!
When we were finally able to get in, the thousands of fans were getting a little too excited, pushing us forward without any warning. It was crazy, intense and a little scary. A lot of the fans there were older than us too! Once we got through the gate, we ran across the stadium to find the entry point for our tickets directly to the mosh pit. When we got there pumped full of adrenaline and all sweaty, we found a spot somewhat close to the stage with a great viewing spot.
Again we waited patiently for the concert to commence at 8:30pm. When the boys hit the stage, the crowd went wild. They performed their hearts out and even attempted to speak Spanish here and there. It was a little difficult to enjoy being in the mosh pit as the other fans kept pushing us forward, left, right and backwards whenever one of the backstreet boys members got closer to the mosh pit. At times it was kinda scary! We definitely got stepped on and were a little sweaty from all the adrenaline rush.
Towards the end of the concert, we decided to move right at the back of the most pit center. This way we would be able to enjoy the concert in full view and dance the night away! It was more relaxed there and no a lot of crowds. We felt like we were going to pass out if we stayed at the front any longer and were super happy of the decision we made.
Once the concert was over, I got my merch on and we both walked outside of the venue heading towards the main roads to get a taxi to the after party venue. On the same day, a soccer match was on with the Chilean team and so there was heaps of traffic and many of the taxis were reluctant to take us. Once it was cleared up, we made our way to the next part of the awesome experience.
The Backstreet Boys After Party in Chile
The after party in Santiago Chile was held the Chocolate club, a very cool place. We had never been there so it was good to experience the venue for the first time. When we arrived, we lined up once more, but this time the lines seemed smaller compared to the concert line. We got in and took a seat near the bar. Since we skipped dinner entirely to wait in line for the concert, we were famished and decided to order a pizza, vegetarian tortillas and some sugar free red bull. We enjoyed every bite of our food and waited for the boys to come on stage.
The after party traditionally only has a select number of band members who attend. It’s a way to see the boys outside of the concert in a more relaxed and chilled environment. Not to mention that only 100 to 200 guests were there, making it more of an intimate gathering appose to the concert with 9000 fans. Nick, Kevin and Howie were the only members present. My favorite is Brian, so it was a total bummer that he wasn’t there.
Regardless, it was still pretty awesome to be at the after party. Nick was the DJ for the event, which was pretty cool. His selection of music and beats were pretty rad to dance to. Howie and Kevin were both drinking and about an hour in, Howie suddenly disappeared. We suspected he got tired and went to rest or passed out after pouring vodka into the mouths of many, many fans!
Things got a little weird when Kevin grabbed a scarf from a fan and wore it seductively. All the other fans who were wearing scarfs then threw them on the stage, and as a result, Kevin wore then all.
Once the boys left, about 2-3 hours in, a local Chilean DJ came on stage and started playing great music that were modern. We previously been to a club in Santiago where the music was so bad we just left a few minutes afterwards. But this place had great music selection. We decided to dance the night away and ended up coming home at 6am in the morning.
The whole experience was so different to the backstreet boys tour concerts we’ve been to in the past in Sydney Australia. We had never been to the after party which was a big highlight of the night for sure. I’m super excited to go again sometime in the future, perhaps in another country yet again!
