Music

Waiting is sometimes a risky game, particularly for attention-deficient 14-year-olds.

CHRIS PIZZELLO/The Associated Press

Tokio Hotel: (from left) Tom Kaulitz, Gustav Schafer, Bill Kaulitz and Georg Listing.

Stylish emo-rock quartet Tokio Hotel knows this. But it's stirred up so much glamorous glee in its native Germany, where it now holds the record for the fastest-selling album in German pop history. And on the U.S. coasts, hundreds of young teens waited outdoors for hours before shows in New York and LA in the spring.

Now, waiting is merely a way to tease.

So for its first full U.S. tour, which stopped at House of Blues on Tuesday, there are no openers: just a black stage-shrouding banner, splattered with the group's logo, translucent enough to trigger New Kids on the Block-like shrieks with any movement behind it.

Showtime was advertised at 8 p.m. sharp. That was false advertising. The act didn't go on until 9:17. During the 77-minute wait, the 500 or so that gathered – not even a third of the way to a sellout at HOB – started to buzz appreciably. But in the meantime, the merchandising booth action died, and the parents shuffled around with one eye on the offspring and the other on the bar.

When that banner dropped with a sudden flourish, two things became plain: why Tokio Hotel has become a goth-pop sensation, and how narrow its window of opportunity is.

Much has been made of singer Bill Kaulitz's shock-straightened mane (now entirely black) and androgyny. But the 18-year-old has a weak and breathy voice with little range; both he and his contrapuntal twin bro, dreadlocked guitarist Tom, were hesitant and contrived performers with little physical honesty. The music – like the look, essentially a cross between Jonas Brothers and A.F.I. – is similarly safe with a couple of structural exceptions.

That's all fine for this crowd, several of whom declared this one of their first concerts. But you have to wonder what's next for Tokio Hotel, since it can't mask itself behind an LED panel, great gear and under-experienced fans forever.

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