After an eight-year break, the boy band Big Time Rush is back with all four original members -- Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Logan Henderson and Carlos PenaVega -- on board, with three new singles added to their three-album catalog and a major tour underway.
In returning to the music scene, Henderson, Maslow, PenaVega and Schmidt plan to be more involved in all aspects of Big Time Rush’s career. Where Nickelodeon (which ran four seasons of the group’s television series, “Big Time Rush”) and Columbia Records gave the group plenty of resources for promotion first time around, Big Time Rush is now an independent operation. Nevertheless, Schmidt reported that ticket sales for the Forever tour have been strong.
“I think we’re one of the few independent artists who’s able to do a nationwide tour that’s doing as well, and we might be one of the only ones,” Schmidt said during a Zoom interview with all four band members. “We’re doing our music independently, we’re doing this tour independently…It’s really exciting because we were always into this vision of wanting to be the creative force behind (the group), but now we actually get the chance to do that. What you’re seeing is 100 percent (us).”
Big Time Rush Forever Tour is set for 8 p.m. July 3 at Darien Lake Amphitheater at Six Flags Darien Lake Theme Park.
If things go as planned, fans will be seeing and hearing Big Time Rush for years to come.
“This is a reunion tour, but it certainly isn’t just one reunion tour,” Maslow said. “We plan on continuing to do our music and continuing to tour and continuing to grow. The sky’s the limit.”
As for the live show, it will be bigger and better than anything the four singers have done before, featuring a more elaborate stage set with five levels and a more cohesive presentation.
“I feel like this go-around we have the most put-together show we’ve ever had,” PenaVega said. “Things flow better, there’s not a lot of breaks in between songs. There are like a lot of transition pieces, and it really feels like one big solid show. Before they were great shows, but it was a little more free form. I think this is more polished.”
Photo: Submitted photo.
Alan Scully is a freelance music feature writer.
