By Matt Kelemen
Mandalay Bay 7 p.m. July 21, $26.50-$62 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
Here they come … too busy singing to put anybody down … but instead of “Hey, hey! We’re the Monkees!” it’s “Woo-hoo! We’re Big Time Rush!” And the band of boys who are drawing screams on a scale unheard of since the heyday of New Kids on the Block surely won’t mind the comparison, as the title of their song “Time of Our Life” conveys how they are handling success.
For the uninitiated, Big Time Rush is also a Nickelodeon series about four boys from Minnesota who form a band. The idea was to have Big Time Rush music featured in the show, which would be released on albums and performed on tours.
Big Time Rush seemingly came out of nowhere, but Nickelodeon fans immediately took to their blend of slapstick and song when their show debuted in November 2009. Since then, fans followed them from their “move” to Los Angeles and their debut single “Boyfriend” (featuring Snoop Dogg) through their current Big Time Summer Tour and recently released single “Windows Down.”
If the new song sounds familiar, it takes its cue from Blur’s 1997 hit “Song 2.” Parents chaperoning their little “Rushers” should expect a somewhat surreal experience when a familiar guitar strum sends their kids into a boy band frenzy.
