Nineteen-nineties boy band 98 Degrees celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, not with some gala concert or career retrospective but with a Christmas album.
And if you鈥檙e sitting there scratching your head and musing aloud, 鈥淲hy a Christmas album?鈥 let us explain before the quartet brings its 鈥98 Degrees At Christmas鈥 tour to the Desert Diamond Casino on Friday, Dec. 22:
Building on the success of its multiplatinum 1998 sophomore album 鈥98 Degrees and Rising,鈥 the quartet in 1999 tossed its jingle bells into the star-studded Christmas music arena and came back with the platinum-selling album 鈥淭his Christmas.鈥 It spun off the Top 40 hit 鈥淭his Gift鈥 and landed them on Amy Grant鈥檚 CBS special 鈥淎 Christmas to Remember,鈥 forever sealing the band鈥檚 relationship to the holidays.
Fast-forward to 2017: 98 Degrees in October released 鈥淟et It Snow,鈥 its 20th anniversary Christmas album with classics including 鈥淢ary, Did You Know?鈥 鈥淪ilent Night,鈥 鈥淎way In a Manger,鈥 鈥淗ave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas鈥 and a cover of Joni Mitchell鈥檚 classic 鈥淩iver.鈥 And of course they added an original song, the poppy four-part-harmony-rich toe-tapper 鈥淪eason of Love.鈥
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So you see how releasing a Christmas album on a milestone anniversary actually makes a lot of sense for 98 Degrees.
Just what can we expect from Friday鈥檚 concert?
- Dancing: Hello, this is 98 Degrees, one of the top
- boy bands of the 1990s whose calling card was moving, grooving and looking good as they split some pretty remarkable four-part harmonies.
- Singing along: In addition to their Christmas songs, the band dips into its pop hits and, according to reviews of shows held in November, even covers 鈥淟et it Go鈥 from 鈥淔rozen鈥 and music from 鈥淭he Lion King.鈥 A review from a show at the Westbury in New York City in late November heralded the concert as 鈥渟pectacular鈥 by a blogger who goes by the name CathClaire (cathclaire.com).
- Eye candy: Twenty years down the road, the band members still look like they stepped off the cover of Teen Beat magazine. So don鈥檛 be surprised if some of their diehard fans on Friday go all fangirl once they hit the stage.