Backstreet Boys’ founding member tells his story on Las Vegas Strip

Nick Carter has named his U.S. tour “Who I Am.” And we learn he’s more than a founding member of Backstreet Boys.

“This has taken on its own form as the tour has gone on,” says Carter, headlining Summit Showroom at The Venetian at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. “Before I met the Backstreet Boys at 12-13, I was a fan of music. I would sit down on my my floor, and I would watch MTV every single day, i would listen to what was on the radio, and basically a lot of that stuff was from the ‘80s.”

Carter was born in 1980, very much a child of the decade.

“So I was like, ‘OK,’ I want to put a lot of that stuff in the show and cover some ’80s songs, like from ‘The Breakfast Club,’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me,’ and ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears,” Carter says. “I keep telling people that ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ was my ‘I Want it That Way.’ It gave me the exact same feeling, and whenever that song come on, I get that nostalgic feeling, so I wanted that to be the story throughout the show.”

Carter does perform “I Want it That Way,” and also “Larger Than Life” and “Backstreet’s Back” among BSB songs that are mandatory in such a performance. But he’s also pulling out Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive,” “Sunglasses at Night” by Corey Hart, and “Wonderwall” by Oasis.

Carter is backed by two musicians, and says, “I play instruments as well, so we’re a little three-piece band.”

Carter is a Las Vegas resident, having moved here as BSB opened its residency run at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater (PH Live today) in March 2017. The original quintet of Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell performed 80 shows through April 2019.

Naturally, there is appetite for more BSB in L.V.

“Generally speaking, we are in very, very good and strong conversations, actively right now,” Carter says, referring for another sweep of the Strip. “We are in e-mails and Zoom meetings. I would expect there to be stuff that we’re going to be doing very soon.” Those are some swift dance steps, but we’ll take it as a forecast of more of Carter and his band mates in the foreseeable future.

Toys in the Summit

Carter is inviting fans to this weekend’s shows to bring an unwrapped toy to support Cure 4 The Kids Foundation’s holiday toy drive. The organization is the only outpatient clinic for kids battling cancer and rare diseases.

This happened

Speaking of BSB, a few months ago I joined a table with Richardson and Littrell at Bruno Mars’ The Pinky Ring at the Bellagio. A few club-goers asked if I was Backstreet Boys’ manager. No. But I did book the guys on a monthlong cruise-line gig …

Ventriloquial artists abound

Updates from two of the foremost ventriloquists in the country:

– Long-running Strip theater headliner Jeff Dunham brings his “Artificial Intelligence” show to PH Live at Planet Hollywood for seven shows in ‘25 running Feb. 2, April 13, Aug. 3, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, and Dec. 7.

Dunham’s final show of this year is Dec. 8. Tickets for that date are on sale now, and the 2025 shows go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday Pacific time at Ticketmaster.com

– Terry Fator’s “A Very Terry Christmas,” a Las Vegas traditionsince Fator’s days at The Mirage, returns to The Strat Theater Nov. 29 through Dec. 24. Fator is in his usual 5 p.m. time slot and tickets are on sale now at TerryFator.com.

Fator’s fans love the Christmas theme, with the characters Julius, Duggie Scott Walker, Fernando, Vickie the Cougar and Winston the Impersonating Turtle all revved up for the holidays. This is the only show where you can see a “baked” figure – Duggie – in a furry pink rabbit costume.

What works in Vegas

Swingers at Mandalay Bay. An early call for this adventurous concept, in the former Light Nightclub space (and, lest we forget, the first Las Vegas home of “Baz” in the days when Cirque du Soleil owned the club).

This 21-and-over arcade is a (pizza) slice of the future of Las Vegas entertainment. You can just hang and dine or have a drink, or take on one of the two miniature-golf courses (one on the lower level and the other upstairs).

I aced the windmill hole, and as a result someone got a free shot.

Skee-Ball, Roll-a-Ball and the game where you try to wipe out little clowns with a rubber ball were among the highlights. Turn in 300 credits for a Swingers golf ball. It’s a suited-up-for-the-Strip Chuck ‘E Cheese vibe.

The top-40 mixes thumped and edged toward being too loud, but not quite. It’s a carnival – that’s what the sign upstairs said, in a neon glow – and take as much in as you want. A live band would make the place perfect. But I’ll be back, regardless, to spend quality time on the way to or from somewhere else fabulous.

Tease this …

A major Strip nightclub is going country, in a major way, during the National Finals Rodeo.

Cool Hang Alert

“Lounge Sessions” at One Steakhouse at Virgin Hotel continue with Yasmeen Babico on Thursday, Megan Wallace on Friday, and Serena Isabelli on Saturday. Enter through entrance (where else?) and the artists and piano are on the right.

Performances are no-cover, from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on select Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. If you have three hours to kill, ask the Dean of Las Vegas Bartenders, Johnny O’Donnell, about his golf game.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.