WASHINGTON - Fans displayed homemade signs professing their "luv" for the Backstreet Boys all over the packed MCI Center Saturday (Sept. 18, 1999 The concert I went to!!!), and the quintet did everything they could to love them right back (out of four).

The screaming crowd, mostly exuberant teen-agers and little girls with hearts painted on their faces, was primed long before their heroes arrived, cheering wildly as a commercial featuring the Boys was shown on the overhead screens and amusing themselves with several rounds of the wave while they waited (that was soo cool. I had so much fun! We only did it like 7 times!). Finally, about 45 minutes after opening act EYC left the stage, the lights went down, geysers of smoke shot up and the Backstreet Boys sailed through the air on lighted boogie boards to the five-sided stage in the middle of the arena while the Star Wars theme played (I screamed soooo loud, my voice STILL hasn't come back and it's been two days!).

Once the music started the crowd's deafening roar settled into a constant high-decibel presence and hundreds of hand-held green fluorescent lights augmented the show's own impressive pyrotechnics. The space-age theme effects and sets mirrored the title of the group's 7 million-selling sophomore album, Millennium, and the Boys wasted no time revving up with high-energy tunes Get Down (You're the One for Me) and The One.

When they stopped to introduce themselves and to catch a breath, it was hard to tell which singer had the biggest following. Each of them - Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson - had strong fan contingents.

They got back to jamming, showing off vocal strength and road polish gained through nearly five years of nonstop touring that sets them apart from their pop competition (98 Degrees, Britney Spears, 'N Sync, et al.). They grooved to As Long as You Love Me in a tightly choreographed routine with their nine-member dance troupe. Minutes later, they dangled from cables above the crowd singing the midtempo jam Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), as Dorough won more friends by tossing stuffed animals to the audience.

The group emphasized the show's family atmosphere by bringing five sets of mothers and daughters onstage to be serenaded with The Perfect Fan, a Littrell-penned ballad dedicated to his mother. Richardson showed his versatility by playing piano while bandmates harmonized and traded leads on the sweet Back to Your Heart.

While the Boys shifted frequently from endearing slow songs to driving dance jams, they never let the crowd's energy wane. When they closed with current hit I Want It That Way, mothers were singing along with their kids.